Oct 08, 2025  
USC Catalogue 2018-2019 
    
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USC Catalogue 2018-2019 [ARCHIVED CATALOGUE]

Master of Public Health/Master of Planning (MPH/MPl)

The Master of Public Health/Master of Planning (MPH/MPl) dual degree is designed for individuals who envision a career that combines urban planning and public health disciplines. This dual degree combines the knowledge of urban planning with an understanding of health from a population perspective. It will provide training for planning, evaluating and guiding healthy community and urban development, and will enable graduates who seek to be agents of change within the profession to assume leadership roles in planning and in public health at the local, state and national levels. The degree requires 32 MPl units and 34 MPH units for a total of 66 units required for the dual degree. 

Planning Core Requirements

Concentration and Planning Studios

Planning Concentration

Students must select 16 units in a concentration from one of the five concentrations in the planning program. Students are required to complete the gateway course and methodology course related to their concentration as part of their preparation for their comprehensive examination. The student’s concentration must contain a 4-unit methodology course, a 4-unit gateway course and 8 other units. See further details on the concentrations in the Master of Planning section of the catalogue.

Planning Studios

Students will complete a total of 4 units of domestic or international planning studios under PPD 531L  (4) to satisfy this requirement. Students in this dual degree take 4 units of planning studios (PPD 531) as opposed to 8 in the standalone MPL degree because they complete sufficient coursework in concentrations for this dual degree along with the capstone activities.

Dual degree students, like all other MPl students, must take a comprehensive examination and fulfill an internship requirement. Students will take 200 hours of planning internship placement in addition to 1 unit in PM 596   and 1 unit in PM 597 . See below for further internship details for this dual degree.

MPH Core Requirements

MPH Concentration Core Requirements

Students may choose one of two concentrations in the MPH program: Community Health Promotion and Health Services and Policy. Students are required to complete the concentration core requirements (16 units) specific to their chosen concentration of study. Relevant courses taken in the Price School of Public Policy will be counted toward the MPH concentration elective requirement required by non-dual degree students. 

Students will complete a total of 34 units specific to the MPH program.

MPH Practicum Requirement

For PM 596 , students will complete an internship specific to meet the competencies of the students’ chosen concentration. Dual degree students will enroll in this 1-unit course and complete a 150-hour placement. The other 150 hours would be waived because students will spend 200 hours during their planning internship, acquiring additional relevant practical experience. (Note: This is consistent with the established dual degree programs with medicine, pharmacy, social work and clinical psychology). 

Units required to complete program: 66