program requirements
The MUD Program requires 39 academic credits. It is 10 months in length consisting of a summer half term (July–August), fall full term (September–December), and winter full term (January–April), or a total of two-and-one-half terms. Students may satisfy the program's elective with international study by adding the spring half term (May–June) following the winter term, bringing the program's length to 12 months.
The MUD Program immerses students in a curriculum integrating design, history, theory, and practice in the following sequence:
| Summer half term: |
Urban Design Studio I (including related seminar) |
9 Credits |
| Fall full term: |
Urban Design Studio II | 6 Credits |
| Theories of Urban Design | 3 Credits | |
| History of Urban Form | 3 Credits | |
| Selective or Elective | 3 Credits | |
| Winter full term: |
Urban Design Studio III | 6 Credits |
| Methodologies of Urban Design | 3 Credits | |
| Practices of Urban Design | 3 Credits | |
| Selective or Elective | 3 Credits | |
| Spring half term (optional): |
International Study (may replace Elective) |
3 Credits |
| Total required credits | 39 Credits |
Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in the spring half term, because international study, especially in a global city, is becoming essential to the understanding of 21st-century urbanism. Students may also take additional classes for which they are qualified during any term in the program, including courses in architecture, planning, landscape architecture (at the School of Natural Resources and Environment), and other departments within the University.
Students holding MUP degrees, at the discretion of the MUD Admissions Committee, may be required to take an additional design or design skills course during the spring term before the program's first summer term or during the summer term.
According to University of Michigan regulations, students in the program are required to maintain a cumulative grade point average of B to maintain their academic standing. Grade point averages below B during any term result in academic probation. If a student does not raise his or her program cumulative average above B before graduation, he or she will be denied a degree.