Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB). Accrediting programs in North America leading to bachelor’s and master’s degrees in urban and regional planning, PAB plays an important role in promoting excellence and continued improvement in planning education. Our work draws the support of three sponsoring organizations – the American Planning Association (APA), American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). Accredited programs train leaders and practitioners for the planning profession and allied fields who connect their expertise with the larger public sphere to effect change.

To foster continued excellence in planning education, PAB has recently completed a new strategic plan spanning 2023-2028. While the 2017-2022 plan focused on clarifying and embodying PAB’s values in its operations, the new plan explores new directions for services and collaborations. Some of the key goals include: enhance communication and collaboration with sponsoring organizations and accredited programs to achieve synergy and mutual benefit, explore new types of PAB services for accredited programs and new recognition services for other programs, and update data and technology infrastructure to stay in place with the expanded scope of services. The development of this plan has benefitted from constructive input and feedback from our three sponsoring organizations, and its implementation will undoubtedly depend on the support of all PAB stakeholders. I invite you to connect with PAB to collaborate in supporting planning education.

Weiping Wu
PAB Chair

January 16, 2024