Master of Urban Design

In our 30-credit, STEM-designated, studio-based program, participants develop the technical skills, intellectual rigor, and professional expertise to tackle the challenges of urbanization. Students are trained to look critically at the built environment and encouraged to use their design expertise to make a difference in the world.Our one-year, design-intensive program is directed at students with previous degrees in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, or other related disciplines. NJIT’s Master of Urban Design (MUD) degree is an approved field of study (CIP Code 303301) included in the United States government’s official STEM fields list, which allows our international MUD graduates to apply for the optional practical training (OPT) extension program. Students develop planning and design proposals that actively seek to transform urban conditions by making cities more equitable, sustainable and beautiful.Projects range in scale from the design of discrete physical interventions, to the restructuring of urban districts, to the reimagining of mega-regions.During the first semester, program participants engage in design projects aimed at improving local urban conditions in the New York metropolitan region, whereas the second semester is dedicated to inventing new urban design paradigms in international settings.The program focuses on innovative urban design and planning practice that is informed by in-depth local analysis and global understanding of large-scale forces at work in city-making and urbanization.Using new and emergent techniques, students learn to analyze and visualize both the physical and non-physical forces shaping urban conditions to design in a variety of urban contexts and scales, and to critically evaluate the social, economic and ecological impact of their own urban design proposals and interventions.Students must complete 30 course credits through full- or part-time study. Up to 6 credits toward the degree may be waived based on previous academic study. Additional elective courses may be taken in disciplines related to urban design, but do not count toward degree credit.

To be considered for a master's program at NJIT, you must have completed a four-year accredited Bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, and demonstrate strong academic achievement in an appropriate discipline. The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Duolingo or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is required for all international applicants not holding a degree from a United States post-secondary institution.