Internships, Scholarships and Awards

This scholarship provides support for graduate students pursuing a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning. Recipient(s) must demonstrate academic achievement and financial need. The Donor’s first preference is that recipients hail from upstate New York. The second preference is that they hail from New York State.  

All MRP applicants are considered for the scholarship if they meet the eligibility requirements. The MRP selection committee evaluates qualified recipients and notifies eligible students with the scholarship offer. 

Eligibility:  

• First Tier - Preference
  • Graduate student as resident of an upstate county in New York State
  • GPA 3.0 or above
  • MRP degree student
  • Indication of financial need (e.g., request for TA, GA, or inquiry on available resources)
• Second Tier - Eligible
  • Graduate student as resident of New York State
  • GPA 3.0 or above
  • MRP degree student
  • Indication of financial need (e.g., request for TA, GA, or inquiry on available resources) 

If no graduate-level candidates qualify, the scholarship could be awarded to an undergraduate student enrolled in the Urban Studies Major Program who fits the same eligibility requirements as an MRP candidate. 

Assistantships are used to employ full time graduate students as teaching and administrative assistants. 

Decisions on the assignment of MRP Graduate Assistant (GA) lines are made by the MRP core faculty. In making their decisions, faculty consider all current MRP students who have formally applied for assistantship funding within the Graduate Application and who still need to complete at least 10 credits to finish the MRP degree. They also consider all applicants to the MRP program who have been admitted and have formally applied for assistantship funding. 

Deadline

The prime GA selection decisions for the upcoming academic year are made in April. Applicants seeking assistantships should ensure that their complete MRP applications are received by the university’s Graduate Office no later than March 15. Applicants who do not make this deadline are much less likely to obtain an assistantship.  

Criteria

The selection of GA recipients is based on four major criteria, weighted equally, as follows: 

1. Academic performance as an undergraduate, and in any subsequent graduate study, as reflected by grade point average (GPA), grades in key planning-related courses, and awards.
2. The extent to which academic background is cognate with planning.
3. Evidence of relevant work experience, volunteer experience, writing and verbal and technical skills appropriate to a graduate planning program.
4. Possession of skills and experience of value to the Department of Geography, Planning, and Sustainability. 

In addition, in assigning GA lines, the MRP core faculty consider evidence of commitment to graduate study in planning at the University at Albany and diversity issues. Our objective is to form a pool of graduate assistants who can bring a wide variety of different talents, experiences and concerns to the department, and who are truly representative of the university’s student body as a whole. 

Awards

The MRP program core faculty seeks to divide its GA lines roughly equally between first- and second-year full-time students. Some GA awards are “full lines”— including a stipend and a tuition scholarship of nine (9) credits each semester, in return for 20 hours per week of work during the 14-week teaching semester. The majority of the awards are “half lines”— including a stipend and tuition scholarship of six (6) credits each semester, in return for 10 hours per week of work during the 14-week teaching semester. 

Students are encouraged to apply for other University funding opportunities.

The Paul Marr Award for Excellence in Planning Scholarship and Practice is presented to a student who best represents and honors the memory of Paul Marr, a Geography professor at the University at Albany who started the Planning program.

Criteria

You must be a top performing Master of Regional Planning (MRP) student and must also be actively involved in community engagement in planning.
 

Selection Process

MRP program faculty meet each March to discuss the students who fit the criteria and come to a consensus on who best meets the requirements. Selected students are notified in April each year.

Please visit the Graduate School website for details on the Carson Carr Graduate Diversity Fellowship.

Visit the Center for Women in Government and Civil Society website for details on the Fellowship on Women & Public Policy.