Environmental Design and Planning Ph.D.

The doctoral students are members of the College at-large, rather than a particular department, allowing students to draw from the sizeable and wide-ranging knowledge of faculty from the university and all three of the departments:

• Architecture,
• Interior Architecture and Industrial Design, and
• Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning.

This program is designed to prepare graduates to teach at the graduate level and/or conduct research.

In addition to teaching, our graduates also are well-equipped to undertake research to inform design and/or planning for governmental, environmental and planning agencies; developers; professional design firms; and international corporations that focus on environmental stewardship.

Programme Structure

Areas of Emphasis

• Design emphasizes the role of the designed environment in contributing to human well-being and provides opportunities, through practice and research, to explore issues that include pedagogy, neuroscience, perception, sustainability, history, and theory.
• Planning considers the theory and methods of public decision-making and the development of models and tools to understand and improve decision-making processes, both public and private.
• Sustainability explores ways by which the design and planning professions can better provide for the environmental and resource needs of people without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
• Place Making explores the importance of place in human life and considers ways by which design and policy might help to create robust, engaging, and supportive human environments.

Admission Requirements

Academic requirements

• GPA: 3

English requirements

• TOEFL iBT: 100
• IELTS: 7

Other requirements

• Previous Degrees. Applicants are normally expected to have earned a master’s degree in the design or planning fields, but applicants with a master’s degree in other fields may also be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Major Professor/Advisor. One member of the core Ph.D. faculty must accept mentorship responsibility for any student prior to their admittance to the doctoral program. Applicants are strongly encouraged to be in contact with Ph.D. faculty members with whom they share interests, and if possible, obtain a commitment from a faculty member to support the application.
• Application Review Committee. Even with faculty commitment, the application must be reviewed and approved by the PhD committee before an offer of acceptance can be made.

Key Information

• Duration: Full-time, 36 months
• Start dates & application deadlines: Starting August 2027, apply before January 2027
• Language: English (TOEFL iBT 100 or IELTS 7)
• Credits: 90 SCH
• Delivered: On Campus
• Campus Location: Manhattan, United States