STUDENTS: You're on your way toward a career in planning! Now join APA and build a strong foundation of professional relationships and learning. Rub elbows with the pros, enjoy scholarship and leadership opportunities, save on publications and conferences, and much more.
Meet and learn from practicing planners in chapter meetings and other informal settings. Keep up with events in the local planning community through chapter newsletters.
APA knows students' finances are tight. Student members receive all the benefits of regular APA membership — our flagship magazine Planning, APA Interact, discounts on APA books and reports — and more. Student members also get:
The educational and networking opportunities available to you as a student member could open doors and make landing your first job easier. We also offer a number of job services. At the national conference, members interview for internships and entry-level jobs at Job Connection. And check out APA's Jobs Online for more listings any time.
Attend APA's annual conference — held each spring in a major U.S. city — and join thousands of planners and public officials, including hundreds of students — at planning's foremost educational and networking event. Conference sessions demonstrate how planners apply the theories and techniques you're studying now. At special students sessions and social events, you'll meet planners-in-training from all over the country.
There are lots of ways to develop your leadership skills in APA. Participating in your local chapter, running for a seat on the Student Representatives Council, and getting involved in your school's Planning Student Organization are just a few. APA and its chapters and divisions foster excellence and recognize outstanding student achievements through a variety of competitions and awards programs.
Become a member and connect with thousands of people who share your dedication to building vibrant communities.
Join APA while you're a student and you'll automatically be enrolled in our Early Career Program. Program participants are entitled to three years as student members and two years as new professional members.
Once you're in the program, it doesn't matter where you are along your academic or career path. For five years, you'll receive enhanced benefits — like discounts on conference registration, division membership, and publications — at rates far below what regular members pay.
APA offers a free year of membership to third-year undergraduate and first-year graduate students in PAB-accredited planning programs in the United States. Check with your department's APA liaison to find out if your school participates.
APA membership is open to everyone who is committed to applying the benefits of planning to create communities of lasting value.
Members of planning and zoning boards and commissions and appointed and elected officials are eligible for APA membership at reduced rates with enhanced benefits.
Click here if you are a planner, related professional, or other individual interested in planning.
©Copyright 2009 American Planning Association All Rights Reserved