Master of Architecture
Our Master of Architecture degree prepares students to make and remake a better world. Building on our renowned legacy, we emphasize design, technological innovation, and creative inquiry in a hands-on professional learning environment. Melding design and technology is our underlying strength, our expertise, and our project as makers of the built environment.
Tomorrow’s architects will need to be nimble, scouting novel paths through the profession. With this in mind, our M.Arch program stresses research, analysis, and synthesis as preparation for an expanding disciplinary field in which resourcefulness and daring will be rewarded. We are committed to helping our graduates become exceptional design leaders as well as global citizens.
The city of Chicago offers a ready-made urban laboratory for all of our efforts. Our location in a global city allows us bring together expert designers, engineers, technologists, and theorists drawn from the most prestigious firms in the city and beyond.
The M.ARCH. program has also received the Zero Energy Design Designation from the U.S. Department of Energy, acknowledging the college’s commitment to sustainability, carbon neutrality, and zero-energy design practices in a world of escalating extreme weather and climate change.
Our M.ARCH. program is officially approved as a STEM designated field of study in Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s STEM designated fields list.
International students who have earned degrees in (STEM) fields in the US, may apply for a 24 month extension of their post completion OPT employment for a total of 36 months, a significant benefit for international students who wish to stay and work in the US post-graduation.
Our M.Arch curriculum is centered around design studios led by prominent architects. Our design studios develop the skills and intuitions that students need to address the most pressing and challenging architectural and urban problems of the day. Each studio offers a distinctive learning environment in which students sharpen their capacity to think critically, experiment speculatively, and make architecture ambitiously. Beyond the studio we offer an integrated architectural education spanning building technology, architectural history and theory, professional practice, and digital fabrication and visualization.
Admitted students who hold a pre-professional degree (B.A. or B.S. in Architecture) from an NAAB-recognized program in the U.S.; or international students holding a professional degree from outside the U.S. may qualify for up to one year of advanced standing in the full M.Arch program, depending on previous coursework.
In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure as an architect. Our M.Arch. is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).
