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2024 Best General Architecture Schools

69 Colleges in the United States
4,814 Architecture Degrees Awarded
$49,038 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in general architecture is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #127 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 69 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Architecture Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 4,814 degrees in general architecture to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great General Architecture School

Best General Architecture Schools Your choice of general architecture school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for general architecture schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your General Architecture Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Architecture
Master's Degrees in Architecture
Doctor's Degrees in Architecture

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Architecture Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for General Architecture in the United States

The schools below may not offer all types of architecture degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

10 Top Schools in Architecture

1
Yale crest
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$64,046 Median Starting Salary

Yale University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in general architecture. Yale is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New Haven. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Yale is a great university overall.

There were roughly 16 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent data year. Those general architecture students who get their degree from Yale University earn $15,008 more than the standard architecture grad.

More information about a degree in general architecture from Yale University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
32 Architecture Degrees Awarded
12.5% Growth in Graduates

It is hard to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you wish to pursue a degree in general architecture. MIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were approximately 32 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent data year. General Architecture degree recipients from Massachusetts Institute of Technology get an earnings boost of around $10,951 above the average income of general architecture majors.

More information about a degree in general architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
128 Architecture Degrees Awarded
$57,591 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in general architecture needs to take a look at University of California - Berkeley. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 128 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Those general architecture students who get their degree from University of California - Berkeley receive $8,553 more than the typical architecture grad.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of California - Berkeley

4

University of Pennsylvania is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in general architecture. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were roughly 21 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year. Those general architecture students who get their degree from University of Pennsylvania earn $11,508 more than the average architecture student.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of Pennsylvania

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
36 Architecture Degrees Awarded
$58,141 Median Starting Salary

Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.

There were roughly 36 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the general architecture major at University of Notre Dame make $9,103 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of Notre Dame

6
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$62,291 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.

There were roughly 12 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the general architecture degree program at Harvard University make $13,253 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in general architecture from Harvard University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
70 Architecture Degrees Awarded
$55,083 Median Starting Salary

UT Austin is a very large public university located in the large city of Austin. This university ranks 2nd out of 115 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were about 70 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent data year. Those general architecture students who get their degree from The University of Texas at Austin make $6,045 more than the average architecture grad.

More information about a degree in general architecture from The University of Texas at Austin

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
37 Architecture Degrees Awarded
29.7% Growth in Graduates

UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 37 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Those general architecture students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles earn $4,393 more than the average architecture graduate.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of California - Los Angeles

9
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
126 Architecture Degrees Awarded
11.9% Growth in Graduates

Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 36 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.

There were about 126 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the general architecture program at University of Maryland - College Park get $5,670 above the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of Maryland - College Park

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
45 Architecture Degrees Awarded
$53,129 Median Starting Salary

Georgia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #24 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.

There were roughly 45 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the general architecture major at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus get $4,091 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in general architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best General Architecture Schools award.

RankCollegeLocation
11Rice UniversityHouston, TX
12Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, NY
13University of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA
13Texas A&M University - College StationCollege Station, TX
14University of Washington - Seattle CampusSeattle, WA
15Clemson UniversityClemson, SC
16University of Minnesota - Twin CitiesMinneapolis, MN
17Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteTroy, NY

General Architecture by Region

View the Best General Architecture Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

One of 8 majors within the Architecture & Related Services area of study, General Architecture has other similar majors worth exploring.

Architecture Focus Areas

MajorAnnual Graduates
Architecture4,650
Pre-Architecture Studies105
Architectural Design59

View All Architecture Concentrations >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Architectural Sciences & Technology7,632
Urban & Regional Planning2,193
Landscape Architecture926
Environmental Design770
Interior Architecture765
Real Estate Development636
Architecture (Other)262
Architectural History129

View All Architecture Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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