Architecture Degrees Online

The Architecture Program integrates critical, artistic, and material approaches to the study and practice of architecture.

The five-year, NAAB-accredited* program is committed to experiments in alternative models of practice, design, and fabrication. The curriculum accordingly brings developments in culture, media, and technology to bear on the process of architectural production, allowing students to capitalize on new opportunities in a rapidly changing profession.

Our metropolitan setting informs the educational experience; the city of San Francisco functions as an urban laboratory, inspiring new ways to configure and inhabit architecture. Throughout their studies, students are encouraged to collaborate within and across disciplines to take full advantage of CCA’s studio culture. The program actively seeks the participation of leading international figures for studio instruction, juried reviews, and an ambitious lecture series.

The facilities on the San Francisco campus include dedicated studios with a wireless network infrastructure, a suite of fully equipped shops for various scales and media of fabrication, and four computer labs with the latest hardware and software. The New Materials Resource Center offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary collection of samples and is the only library of its kind housed at an art school.

Through the required internship, students have the opportunity to work at architectural firms in the United States and abroad. Architecture Program students also regularly enter and place in design competitions.

*In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the bachelor of architecture, the master of architecture, and the doctor of architecture. A program may be granted a six-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.

Master’s degree programs may consist of a preprofessional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. The preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

In July 2008 the Masters of Architecture Program was formally granted a three-year term of initial accreditation, effective January 1, 2008. Following the initial three-year term, at the next scheduled review in 2011, the program may receive a six-year term. CCA’s undergraduate Architecture Program is fully accredited.

In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the bachelor of architecture, the master of architecture, and the doctor of architecture.

A program may be granted a six-, three-, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards. Master’s degree programs may consist of a preprofessional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. The preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

Architecture Podcast
In spring 2006, students in On the Air, Jordan Geiger’s interdisciplinary studio course, worked with two types of technology that involve air in architecture: pneumatics (construction) and broadcast (representation).

Their work resulted in full-scale inflatable structures and this podcast.

All students admitted to the undergraduate architecture program enter the Bachelor of Science in Architecture Technology (B.S.A.T.) program, and undertake a two-year common core curriculum. This curriculum includes design studios and architectural history courses, as well as liberal arts courses such as English composition, math, physics, behavioral science, economics, fine arts, and social science.

After successful completion of the two-year common core curriculum, students may continue in the four-year B.S.A.T. program, which is accredited by New York State and may lead to New York State licensure, or apply for admission into the five-year B.Arch. program, which provides the successful candidate with a first professional degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. The N.A.A.B.-certified B.Arch. degree may lead to New York State licensure plus reciprocal licensure in all states except California.

Admission to the B.Arch. program requires the submission of a representative portfolio of individual student design work, called the Foundation Portfolio, which is reviewed by a committee of faculty members. Following the acceptance of the Foundation Portfolio by the review committee, the student candidate may apply for admission to the Bachelor of Architecture program. At the time of application, the student must demonstrate a cumulative grade average of 2.75 for all courses undertaken at NYIT or 3.0 for courses in architecture exclusively. Candidates for admission into the B.Arch. program must submit their Foundation Portfolios for review prior to enrollment in Design V or Architecture 401. Candidates must complete the application process and gain admission into the B.Arch. program prior to enrolling in Design VI or Architecture 402.

With the Bachelor of Architecture degree, the successful student may proceed with the sequence of internship and the professional steps that lead to licensure as well as eligibility for certification from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). The Bachelor of Science in Architectural Technology is a non-professional degree that permits the successful student to gain a license to practice architecture in the State of New York but does not make the degree holder eligible for NCARB certification. Should the successful Bachelor of Science in Architecture Technology graduate later seek to gain a first professional degree in architecture, he or she could pursue a first professional degree Bachelor of Architecture or a first professional degree Master of Architecture.

The Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) at NJIT is a post-baccalaureate professional program, fully accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). The seven-semester 97-credit program is intended for applicants who have earned a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, or a graduate degree with no previous design courses or experience.

Candidates entering the Professional M. Arch. program complete a required core sequence covering architectural history, integrated building systems, and digital design and representation applications as a series of progressive and cumulative co-requisites for the first four design studios. After completion of this mandatory core sequence, M.Arch students enter the advanced options sequence, in which students are given a selection of design studios in each semester, along with additional elective courses to round out their professional education.

A shortened program is available through advanced placement for applicants who have a pre-professional Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in Architecture or another field directly related to architecture, or students who have a Bachelor of Architecture from a non-NAAB accredited program (all international students

The New Jersey School of Architecture offers the five-year NAAB-accredited Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) and the four-year pre-professional Bachelor of Science in Architecture (BS Arch) programs. Our goal is to nurture our students’ loftiest ambitions while providing the skill sets necessary to succeed in architecture and related fields. Students who enroll in NJSOA have made a career choice; our role is to help them find a directions within that career by teaching habits of mind and skills that are transferable to a number of career paths.

Bachelor of Architecture
The Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch) is a five-year professional undergraduate degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). The curriculum is designed to prepare the student for a future career as a registered (licensed) architect. The B. Arch is a two-tiered professional program of NAAB-required technical and professional courses and specialized elective offerings developed and delivered by professional faculty who are for the most part registered themselves. Successful completion of the B. Arch program is the first step toward licensure as a professional architect.

Bachelor of Science in Architecture
The Bachelor of Science in Architecture (BS Arch) is a four-year pre-professional degree. Students in the BS Arch program cannot become licensed architects unless they complete the professional-degree curriculum requirements set by the NAAB. However, the flexibility of the BS Arch degree allows students who do not wish to become traditional architects to pursue dual degree programs within the School and University, or engage in career opportunities in related design and building fields. Students can be admitted to the BS Architecture program immediately or transfer from the B. Arch program after two years.

The total time needed to earn a Bachelor of Architecture degree (the first professional degree) at NJIT is five years. This degree is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).

The curriculum fulfills the educational requirements of the Architectural Registration Examination (ARE), which professionals must successfully pass in order to employ the title “architect”. The ARE is a fully computerized examination which is administered on an annual basis by the Architectural Registration Boards in each state. Students who receive their B. Arch. degree are eligible to take the ARE once they have completed an Internship Development Program (IDP).