Urban Planning, MUP & Architecture, MArch MUP+MArch
Earn two professional degrees — Master of Architecture and Master of Urban Planning — simultaneously and in less time. By completing both degrees together, you’ll be uniquely prepared to create future-forward spaces at every scale, from buildings to entire regions.
Cities and communities face interlinked issues: housing, mobility, climate resilience and economic development. A dual degree prepares you to shape the future of the built environment with holistic solutions that integrate spatial, environmental and social concerns. With our program, you choose the direction of your career. Whether you enter the public or private sector, you’ll be ready to lead in a wide range of professional roles.
Program Type
Master’s
Program Format
On Campus
What it’s like to study at the School of Architecture & Urban Planning
Through a coordinated curriculum and hands-on experiences, you’ll navigate the relationship between buildings and broader urban systems. Taught by experienced faculty who are also professional architects and planners, our program offers a powerful combination of design and policy expertise, ideal for shaping cities that are both visionary and functional. You’ll also meet guest speakers and professionals, including many alumni, who can help you build valuable connections. And you’ll do it all with access to labs and facilities designed to support your growth.
But don’t take our word for it. See for yourself what it is like to be a student here by scheduling a visit to campus.
Architecture, MArch & Urban Planning, MUP Program Details
The MArch + MUP coordinated degree is an opportunity for students to simultaneously earn two professional degrees: Master of Architecture (MArch) and Master of Urban Planning (MUP).
You’ll learn both urban planning theory and architecture theory, giving you the advantage of understanding the differences and the overlaps.
Our coordinated course sequences allows you to complete both degrees one year sooner than what is typical if both degrees were completed separately. The length of the program depends on your previous academic background. Students with a bachelor’s degree in architecture can finish both degrees in three years rather than four. Students with a bachelor’s degree other than architecture can finish in four years rather than five.
Review the Architecture, MArch & Urban Planning, MUP requirements.
How to Apply
Applying to a program offered by UWM’s School of Architecture & Urban Planning is simple with our detailed application instructions. Learn what materials to prepare and confidently take next steps with important dates in mind.
Graduate Assistantships + Scholarships & Aid
Graduate students may be eligible to receive funding support through teaching, research and project assistantships. Graduate assistantships typically include full tuition remission, annual stipend and affordable state health coverage through the university.
UW-Milwaukee offers a variety of cost-saving opportunities, including scholarships, grants, fellowships and residency-based tuition rates. Plus, we offer several scholarships available exclusively to School of Architecture & Urban Planning students.
Studios
Studios are the heart of your education. They push the boundaries of what is possible through architecture and challenge you to dive into specific topics in deep and meaningful ways. Design thinking, experimentation and critique come together in every project, and the creative energy of studio culture truly shapes your experience as an architecture student. Learn more about studios.
Externships
Our externship program offers direct access to professional practice and serves as a strong pathway to post-graduation employment. An externship is a short-term placement in architecture and urban planning organizations during UWinteriM and spring break. You’ll benefit from exposure to a variety of firms and experiences, networking opportunities and mentorship while building your professional network. Learn more about externships.
Internships
Our location in Milwaukee offers an array of planning internships and opportunities that are made possible by faculty relationships with practitioners. Students have interned with dozens of different planning agencies, including:
- Milwaukee Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative
- Milwaukee Department of City Development and Milwaukee Department of Public Works
- Suburban planning offices
- Department of Natural Resources
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
- Consulting firms and nonprofit organizations
Study Abroad
We have a long tradition of offering diverse programs of international study led by our well-traveled faculty. These custom-designed travel opportunities happen throughout the school year and in the summer. Recent trips have taken students to France, Italy, England, Scandinavia and Japan. Take your education further with study abroad opportunities.
Research Opportunities
As a top-tier R1 research university, we’re experts at offering students opportunities to engage in cutting-edge research alongside faculty in areas like ecological design, historic preservation and urban planning. With paid research positions at the undergrad and graduate level and a specialized Resource Center to support your research, there is no limit to what you might uncover. Learn more about research opportunities.
Projects
The greater Milwaukee community is a living laboratory for learning and discovery. Your core courses and many elective courses engage you in real-life planning experiences where you’ll work in groups, under faculty supervision, for clients in the community. That means you’ll learn firsthand the challenges and rewards of articulating a vision, finding solutions, analyzing policies and preparing plans.
Student Organizations
Learn in action through architecture and urban planning student organizations. Opportunities include connecting with professional association leaders, attending national conferences and tackling real-world projects for clients and community partners. Plus, you’ll deepen your connections with faculty, mentors and fellow students. Check out our student organizations.
Career Outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook
Where You Can Work
Students with expertise in both architecture and planning are highly marketable, as they bridge two complementary disciplines.
MArch + MUP graduates may choose to work at the building scale in a conventional architectural firm or work at the neighborhood, city or regional scales in a public planning office or private consulting group. Others work in real estate or project development or work in an urban design consulting group.
Career Resources
We’re committed to helping you launch your career from your first semester to your first job and beyond. We offer a variety of ways for you to build your professional network and prepare for a successful transition into your career. Learn more about career resources.
Which faculty you have within this program depends on your chosen courses or interests. For a list of all School of Architecture & Urban Planning faculty and staff please click the button below.
- Teaching Assistant, Architecture
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture
- Affiliated Faculty, Historic Preservation Institute
- bustosl2@uwm.edu
- Arch & Urban Planning 327
- Associate Professor & Co-Chair, Urban Planning
- cesswein@uwm.edu
- 414-977-7744
- Arch & Urban Planning 389
- Associate Professor, Urban Planning
- Founding Director, Center for Equity Practice & Planning Justice
- keharris@uwm.edu
- 414-229-5824
- Arch & Urban Planning 322
- Teaching Assistant, Doctoral, Architecture
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture
- ismat@uwm.edu
- Arch & Urban Planning 426
- Director, Historic Preservation Institute
- mjarosz@uwm.edu
- 414-229-5686
- Arch & Urban Planning 299
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture
- koch6@uwm.edu
- 414-229-4014
- Arch & Urban Planning 493
- Dean, College of the Arts & Architecture
- Professor, Architecture
- newmanw@uwm.edu
- Art 284
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture
- Interim Head of School, School of Architecture & Urban Planning
- Associate Professor, Architecture
- reynol54@uwm.edu
- Arch & Urban Planning 245
- Associate Professor, Architecture
- jshields@uwm.edu
- 262-385-0553
- Arch & Urban Planning 383
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture
- dfshuvra@uwm.edu
- Arch & Urban Planning 426
- Associate Professor, Architecture
- Director, Design + Construction Initiative
- timmer@uwm.edu
- Arch & Urban Planning 225
- Adjunct Assistant Professor, Architecture
- Affiliated Faculty, Historic Preservation Institute
- aswagner@uwm.edu
- Arch & Urban Planning 272A
- Associate Professor & Department Chair, Architecture
- wallick@uwm.edu
- 414-229-3221
- Arch & Urban Planning 251
- Professor, Architecture
- Director, Institute for Ecological Design
- Affiliated Faculty, School of Freshwater Sciences
- jwasley@uwm.edu
- 414-229-4045
- Arch & Urban Planning 293
