Boston Architectural College
School of Architecture
Boston
the-bac.edu 

B.ARCH., M.ARCH., Distance M.ARCH.

This independent college in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, founded in the 1880s as a club for local architects, has time-honored and manifold links to area practitioners, thanks to its concurrent practice curriculum: Students earn credit (and money) for working in an architectural practice setting, and complete their academic coursework in the evenings. The B.Arch. typically takes seven years to complete. A new offering is a unique, accredited distance M.Arch., a post-professional degree designed to take two years; students must be in Boston for just one week per semester.

Undergraduate Admissions: Avg. SAT: N/A; Avg. GPA: N/A; Applied: 385; Accepted: 385; Enrolled: 144
Undergraduate Demographics: Minority: 18%; Female: 36%; Financial aid: 82%
Graduate Admissions: GRE: not required Applied: 231; Accepted: 231; Enrolled: 97
Student/Faculty Ratio: N/A
Tuition: Undergraduate, $11,448 (based on six to 10 credits per semester), Graduate, $17,112 (six to 10 credits)

Drexel University
Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design—Department of Architecture & Interiors
Philadelphia
drexel.edu/westphal/academics/undergraduate/architecture

B.ARCH.

With co-op at the center of its mission, Drexel offers something that no other school can: the choice of two evening-class-heavy paths to an accredited B.Arch. That these are in high demand is attested by Drexel’s selectivity. Architecture students can choose either the 2+4 program—two years of full-time study, followed by four years of full-time employment plus evening classes—or the part-time evening option, which is geared toward nontraditional students and takes a minimum of six years to complete. Last summer, Drexel students traveled to Rome and Paris on study tours.

Undergraduate Admissions: Avg. SAT: 1900 (out of 2400); Avg. GPA: 3.7; Applied: 1,100; Accepted: 140; Enrolled: 30
Undergraduate Demographics: Minority: 17%; Female: 38%; Financial aid: 95%; International: 0%
Student/Faculty Ratio: N/A
Tuition: $ 36,700 (2+4 option), $355 per credit + a $120 general fee per quarter (part-time evening option)

Northeastern University
School of Architecture
Boston
architecture.neu.edu

B.S. Arch, M.ARCH.

The baccalaureate program at Northeastern includes two mandatory, six-month co-op (i.e., work) experiences, which bump the four-year course up to five years. Add a sixth, and you can earn an NAAB-accredited M.Arch. (if you’re a B.S. graduate in good standing). The school bolsters its professional training with a strong research agenda; current areas of research include urban housing and market-driven building types. A rising star on the faculty is Kiel Moe, whose research into integrated design and energy systems won him the prestigious Rome Prize for 2009–10.

Undergraduate Admissions: Avg. SAT: 1307; Avg. GPA: 3.85; Applied: 850; Accepted: 240; Enrolled: 90
Graduate Admissions: GRE: not required; Avg. GPA: 3.3 / Min.: 3.0; Applied: 95; Accepted: 45; Enrolled: 24
Student/Faculty Ratio: 17:1 
Tuition: Undergraduate, $34,950; Graduate, $1,065 per credit hour

Philadelphia University
School of Architecture
Philadelphia
philau.edu/architecture

B.ARCH., B.S. Arch Studies, B.S. Arch Studies/MBA, M.S. in Sustainable Design, M.S. in Construction Management

The School of Architecture is the largest school within this 2,500-student university on the outskirts of Philly, which is dedicated to providing professional education with a solid grounding in the liberal arts. The majority of faculty members, both part- and full-time, are practitioners, and much of the architecture curriculum is interdisciplinary, engaging students from the interior design and landscape architecture programs as well (these programs also are run in the School of Architecture). There is a strong tradition of craft, materials, and technology.

Undergraduate Admissions: Avg. SAT: 1649 (out of 2400); Avg. GPA: 3.4; Applied: 903; Accepted: 690; Enrolled: 225
Undergraduate Demographics: Minority: <10%; Female: 51%; International: <5%; Financial aid: 30%
Graduate Admissions: GRE: not required; Avg. GPA: 3.5; Applied: 137; Accepted: 107; Enrolled: 64
Tuition: Undergraduate, $27,428; Graduate, $806 per credit hour

University of Cincinnati
College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
School of Architecture and Interior Design
Cincinnati
daap.uc.edu/said

B.S. Arch, B.S. Interior Design, M.ARCH., M.S. Arch

Say “co-op,” and many architects will instantly think “Cincinnati.” UC was the birthplace of cooperative education back in 1906, and the program here is consistently named among the country’s best for turning out graduates who are ready to grapple with real-life architecture. Undergraduates get six quarters of professional experience interspersed between periods of study; graduate students can arrange a co-op that is related to their thesis topic. The whole college—including a shop and a rapid prototyping center—is housed in the Peter Eisenman–designed Aronoff Center.

Undergraduate Admissions: Avg. SAT: 1305; Avg. ACT: 29; Applied: 654; Accepted: 171; Enrolled: 80
Graduate Admissions: Minority: 15%; Female: 39%
graduate admissions: GRE: minimum V-500; Q-650; A-4.5; M.S. Arch, V-500; Q-630; A-4.5; Avg. GPA: 4.0
Student/Faculty Ratio: N/A
Tuition: Undergraduate, $9,399 (resident), $23,922 (nonresident); Graduate, $12,723 (resident), $23,055 (nonresident); M. Arch. rate, $4,890 per term (resident) / $9,524 (nonresident)