Master of Community and Regional Planning - Community Development

The Master of Community and Regional Planning (MCRP) degree prepares graduates to shape community and regional change, and work towards environmental sustainability and social justice for their communities and regions as well as the larger world. The MCRP degree program is the only nationally-accredited planning degree offered in New Mexico. Graduates work in research and professional careers with community-based organizations, nonprofit and international non-governmental organizations, private sector firms, and public agencies at the tribal, local, regional, state and federal government levels.

Community Development: 

This concentration builds community development knowledge and skills. It focuses on the forces that produce inequality, how people work to create opportunity, and how planners can contribute to promoting a fair distribution of resources. Community development focuses on community-based approaches to effecting change, economic development techniques, and tools that enhance quality of life. The coursework encompasses the economic, political and social aspects of planning. Students are taught the planning concepts and skills necessary to assist and work with communities. The emphasis integrates key techniques that identify and understand the historical, present and future patterns of individual and organizational action as well as to anticipate and predict the consequences of actions on other communities.