How to Apply - MUP

When you are ready, you may APPLY ONLINE. Please be prepared to upload the following documents: unofficial transcript, resume, personal statement, and writing sample. You will also include the names and email addresses for your references.  There is also a required application fee. 

Transcripts must be sent from applicant's undergraduate institution and any post-graduate institutions attended directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions at processing@ku.edu or Graduate Admissions, University of Kansas, KU Visitor Center, 1502 Iowa St., Lawrence, KS 66045.

Applicants with an undergraduate degree or post-graduate credit from KU do not need to submit transcripts. These records will be verified by the KU Registrar’s Office directly to Graduate Admissions.

For degrees earned from institutions outside the U.S., additional documents may be required to fulfill both the application and the enrollment requirements.  Details are outlined through the graduate office website.  

Recommendation letters should be from persons who can address the applicant’s ability to do graduate work and the admissions criteria. At least one recommendation should be an academic reference.

PLEASE NOTE: Applicants will submit names and email addresses of references as part of their online application. References will then receive an email with instructions for submitting their letters of recommendation electronically.

A copy of your current resume and employment history.

The University of Kansas Urban Planning Program seeks to build a diverse student body and, thus, diverse planning profession reflective of a variety of communities. In your personal statement, please share your life experiences or personal characteristics that are concretely tied to a quality of character or unique abilities that would contribute to making communities great places for people, plants, animals, and the land. Describe your career goals, substantive interests in the field of urban planning, rationale for pursuing graduate study in urban planning at the University of Kansas, and how you interpret and relate to our motto “Excellence without elitism”.

International applicants should submit TOEFL or IELTS scores indicating minimum English proficiency scores. The only exception is if the applicant can verify graduation with a baccalaureate degree (or higher) earned in residence from an accredited U.S. institution of higher education, or from such an institution whose medium of instruction is English. This does not apply to degrees earned online.