Open Door Policy Lets Planning Students take law school classes

An open door policy formed between Pratt and Brooklyn Law School allows students in Pratt’s graduate planning programs to take classes at Brooklyn Law School without going through a separate admissions process or paying additional tuition. The program also allows Brooklyn Law students to take urban planning courses at Pratt.

Students in any of the four master’s degree programs in Pratt’s Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development (PSPD)—City and Regional Planning,  Facilities Management, Historic Preservation, and Urban Environmental Systems Management—can take advantage of the open door policy.

Brooklyn Law School courses that are especially popular with planning students include housing and property law, taught by Brooklyn Law School’s David Reiss and New York City Councilmember Brad Lander (M.S. ’98). Students in the law school who take planning courses at Pratt tend to take urban economics and sustainable planning classes.

“By taking courses at Brooklyn Law, Pratt students learn from legal professionals how the law might be used to further equitable planning and policy,” says student Lee Miller (M.S. expected ’12) who advises students interested in taking courses at Brooklyn Law School. “At the same time, law students can learn from planners the importance of—and how to achieve—public participation, urban revitalization, and urban sustainability.”

The open door policy is in addition to a joint M.S./J.D. degree program offered through Pratt and Brooklyn Law School.

Learn more about PSPD and the open door policy!

Text: Abigail Beshkin