This May, the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) re-accredited the Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs's Master of Urban Planning and Development degree  for a seven-year term, the longest term possible under current PAB rules.

In its report, the Site Visit Team noted many areas of excellence, including strong leadership and a committed and cohesive faculty. The report also found the program to be well situated to advance planning education and research around themes of social equity and development.

PAB's mission is to promote excellence among planning programs and ensure high quality education for future urban planners. PAB currently accredits seventy-eight Master's programs and sixteen Bachelor's programs at eighty North American universities. Accreditation by the PAB indicates that a program has undergone an extensive external review and substantially meets the PAB standards and criteria. PAB bases its decisions on the overall quality of the program, its performance relative to its mission and strategic plan, and its performance relative to PAB's standards.

Accreditation (or a degree from an accredited program) serves as a marker of approval from the planning profession. Through its connections to the APA and AICP, PAB accreditation provides a "stamp of approval” from the profession that can be particularly valuable to students seeking education as an entry point into the profession. PAB accreditation connects to the AICP credential which provides a key means for professional advancement. Graduates from accredited planning programs are also eligible for AICP Candidacy status immediately upon graduation.