Community, Environment & Planning
College of Built Environments
Community, Environment and Planning (CEP) is an award-winning, interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts degree housed in the Department of Urban Design and Planning. Unlike most majors, CEP does not provide a pre-defined educational path. Instead, CEP empowers students to draw on the tools of planning — collaboration, leadership, intentionality, stewardship and vision — to pursue their own educational goals in the company of other self-directed students in cohorts limited to 38 students. The CEP core curriculum focuses on theory and practice applied to real-world settings; electives are satisfied by taking courses anywhere on campus. Students also participate in a governance process that supports the major and teaches students how to be effective leaders and doers in the world. Our students graduate to become urban planners, educators, non-profit managers, entrepreneurs, communication experts and professionals of all sorts, including doctors, lawyers and engineers.
Major category: Capacity-constrained
Topic(s): Arts, Humanities and Design, Business, Engineering option, Natural and environmental sciences, Social sciences
websiteDegree requirements
Applicant type
First-year students can apply to the UW to begin autumn quarter or winter quarter (U.S. applicants only)
Read more about applying to the UW as a first-year student, including details for programs that provide high school students with college credit (like Running Start).
Quarters of general admission to UW: autumn / winter (U.S. applicants only) / spring / summer
Preparation for the major is a factor in transfer admission.
- Use the information below to help you prepare for this degree
- Visit MyPlan to run a degree audit.
- Use the UW Equivalency Guide to find out how courses taken at a Washington state community or technical college will transfer to the UW.
- UW college and school graduation requirements
Department admission information
Please contact the department for details about the application process.
Admissions requirements:
- Minimum 90 credits completed when the student begins the program and at least 80% of general education requirements fulfilled, tracked by CEP’s Academic Advisor.
- Minimum GPA of 2.5 GPA with additional emphasis on a written essay and demonstration of relevant extracurricular activities.
- Admission is once a year, for autumn quarter. Early admission deadline is February 15th. Additional application dates vary per year. See CEP’s website for specific dates.
Read more about applying to the UW as a transfer student.
Courses REQUIRED for admission:
- English Composition
- CEP 200 SSc – Introduction to Community and Environmental Planning
Entering transfer information:
Total undergraduates: 74
Total from Washington community colleges: 16