Master of Architecture (MArch)

Berkeley’s Master of Architecture is centered around the design studio and enriched by courses in building science and technology, sustainability and history, theory, and society. As an MArch student, you’ll work closely with your classmates and professors in our light-filled open-plan studio to develop and represent your design ideas. You’re encouraged to identify your own creative and research passions, with the support of your instructors and peers. 

Design is the core of the curriculum, and students enroll in an architectural design studio each semester. Working collaboratively with your cohort in design studios, you’ll learn how to create architecture that serves both communities and the environment over the long term.

We offer two tracks leading to the MArch degree, a two-year track and a three-year track, depending on your previous educational experience and the recommendation of the admissions committee.

The MArch program is for those seeking their first accredited professional degree in Architecture. If you hold a five-year professional bachelor of architecture degree from a NAAB-accredited school or a comparable five-year degree from a foreign university or technical institute, you may be eligible to apply for our one-year post-professional Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD).

Berkeley’s MArch is a full-time residential degree program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) and designated as a STEM degree by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Learn more about NAAB accreditation.

The Department of Architecture offers you a rich intellectual community rooted in the dynamic contexts of UC Berkeley, the Bay Area, and California. As a graduate student at the nation’s top public research university, you’ll be part of a diverse community of changemakers known worldwide for innovation and academic excellence. Our passion for critical inquiry, debate, and creative experimentation is informed by a deep commitment to social equity and climate solutions.

The Bay Area led the movement to reshape architecture through a humanistic lens and today it’s home to some of the profession’s most innovative designers.

California, the birthplace of the environmental movement and social justice advocacy, is at leading edge of making our cities more just and climate resilient. The state’s diverse population, 40 million strong, and its rich and varied conditions make it the ideal laboratory for our discipline.

The Department of Architecture, established at UC Berkeley in 1903, was one of the founding departments in the College of Environmental Design. When the college was created in 1959, it was the first in the nation to unite the disciplines of architecture, planning, and landscape architecture, leading the way toward an integrated approach to analyzing, understanding, and designing our built environment. The college emphasizes environmental design as a profoundly ethical practice, inseparable from social, political, economic, and cultural contexts and co-produced through dynamic engagements with diverse communities.

The College of Environmental Design is committed to building an inclusive environment for our faculty, students and staff that respects and reflects the diverse communities in which we live and work. We use design, research and teaching as drivers of change toward equitable futures. 

Our multidisciplinary faculty have expertise in design, building science and technology, and history and theory of architecture. As an MArch student, you also have opportunities to study with experienced local practitioners who teach regularly in the program, as well as distinguished visiting faculty from around the world. 

Both the two-year and three-year MArch degree tracks lead to a NAAB-accredited MArch degree that prepares you for the practice of architecture and meets the education requirement for pursuing your architecture license. 

The curriculum of both tracks is organized around the core design studio, which is the setting for the synthesis and integration of technical, environmental, historical, and theoretical course offerings. Students in the three-year track will take 6 studios, and students in the two-year track will take 4 studios. 

In your first year first year of the three-year track is focused on the development of architectural design and representational skills. The second year of the three-year track and the first year of the two-year track focus on architecture + urbanism in the fall semester. The option studio in the spring semester of this year is taught by visiting professors from around the world, and has a studio travel component. 

In your final year, you will get to apply your knowledge in an integrated studio in the fall and create your own thesis project in the spring. The spring thesis studio also has a required research seminar component in the fall. 

The three-year MArch is open to students with undergraduate degrees in any discipline. Applicants with an undergraduate degree in architecture and 4 or fewer weighted architecture design studios may only be considered for this track. 

Students in the three-year track will join the incoming cohort of students in the two-year track in the fall semester of your second year.

Those with an exceptional undergraduate record and at least 5 weighted studios in a focused pre-professional degree in architecture, such as a BA or BS with a major in architecture, qualify to be considered for advanced standing (two-year MArch). Placement in advanced standing is at the discretion of the admissions committee. 

The opportunity to complete a thesis project in as little as two years of study differentiates Berkeley MArch from other programs.

Selected recent MArch thesis topics:

At CED, you can expand your course of study by earning a concurrent degree in landscape architecture or city planning.

We are committed to recruiting students of outstanding achievement and potential, regardless of ability to pay. 

In addition to tuition, UC Berkeley students pay several types of fees, including a campus fee, student services fee, and others. Students enrolled in professional degree programs, including the MArch, are also charged Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition (PDST). Find current tuition and fee information on the Office of the Registrar website. 

The Department of Architecture awards a limited number of graduate fellowships each year to incoming students.

If you plan to pursue social impact work after earning your degree, we encourage you to apply for the Arcus Social Justice Corps Fellowship, which provides full funding so you can graduate debt-free. (Please note that the Arcus Fellowship is available only to domestic students.)

We also encourage you to apply to competitive university fellowships.

Find more information about financial aid, fellowships, student employment, and reporting requirements on CED’s Fees + Financial Aid web page.

All of our students have access to one-on-one counseling offered by the College of Environmental career advisor, as well as UC Berkeley’s robust career services, for up to two years after graduation.

The depth and reach of our pedagogy well prepares you to join architectural design firms, as well as to hold teaching positions at leading institutions around the world. Our graduates are prepared to serve as national and international architectural design leaders, building thriving communities in a world of rapid political, economic, and environmental change.

UC Berkeley begins accepting applications in early September for the following fall term only (no spring admissions). The fall semester begins in mid-August. 

We recommend you start the application process as soon as possible. As a prospective graduate student, you’ll submit your application through UC Berkeley’s Graduate Division. You’ll find lots of useful information on the Graduate Division website, including application instructions and information about funding your education. 

Only online applications (including letters of recommendation) are accepted. All documents, regardless of language of instruction, must be translated into the English language. Transcripts, diplomas, and certificates should be provided in the original language of instruction AND in English. Transcripts must show your full name, degree conferral date, and degree.

*2024 QS World University Rankings