Graduate Programs
As a Berkeley graduate student, you’re part of a diverse community of change-makers known worldwide for innovation and academic excellence. At the College of Environmental Design, we’re committed to launching our students to be agents of environmental and social change, poised to make a tangible impact on our world. We offer six professional degrees and five academic graduate degrees, as well as opportunities for earning concurrent degrees within the college and with other Berkeley departments.
Professional Degrees
Master of Architecture (MArch)
Our top-ranked, rigorous MArch prepares you for the practice of architecture in an environment that fosters design excellence and encourages multidisciplinary collaboration and experimentation. The nationally accredited professional program is committed to addressing the most pressing issues of our time, including the climate crisis, housing affordability, and the integration of technology into both research and practice. As an MArch student, you’ll be part of an international cohort of motivated and talented design students from diverse backgrounds and work with faculty who are leaders in their fields.
Master of City Planning (MCP)
Berkeley’s top-tier MCP is a two-year nationally accredited STEM program that empowers you to successfully practice planning in a variety of urban, metropolitan, and regional settings. As an MCP student, you’ll develop analytical, research, and communication skills, as well as expertise in various fields and subfields of city and regional planning. Berkeley’s MCP is distinguished by its focus on the human impacts of planning decisions, with particular attention to equity, diversity, and social justice.
Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)
Berkeley’s MLA program is known for centering ecological integrity and social equity. It offers accredited degrees in landscape architecture and environmental planning, which focuses on land use and the management of natural resources. You’ll study with faculty who have expertise in design, planning, urbanism, history, sustainability, hydrology, ecology, geographic information science, landscape modeling, and social practices. Your MLA will prepare you to serve as a leader in the field, building thriving communities in a world of rapid political, economic, and environmental change.
Master of Urban Design (MUD)
Berkeley’s MUD, the only degree program of its kind in California, is a one-year interdisciplinary program of advanced study for architects, landscape architects, and planners who already hold professional degrees. As a MUD student, you’ll innovate design strategies for sites at the urban, suburban, and territorial scales and develop a practice supported by research and analysis that is grounded in economic, political, and social contexts.
Abbey Master of Real Estate Development + Design (MRED+D)
Integrating design with the fundamentals of real estate markets, the one-year Abbey MRED+D prepares you to build sustainable, equitable, and prosperous cities. The curriculum focuses on finance, urban economics, property and land use law, and project feasibility analysis, as well as excellence in urban design, planning, and sustainability. As an MRED+D student, you’ll discover how design thinking is foundational to producing the most valued — and valuable — real estate projects.
Master of Design (MDes)
A three-semester professional graduate program jointly offered with the College of Engineering, the MDes prepares you to be a thought leader in the area of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and the internet of things. You’ll develop core skills in design process, prototyping, and communication, as well as a critical lens on technology and design. You’ll leave the program as an engaged and responsive designer with an informed awareness of people, contextual needs, and societal impacts.
Academic Degrees
Master of Science in Architecture (MS)
Our MS in Architecture is an academic, nonprofessional degree program that offers you the opportunity to engage in advanced research in the ever-broadening and increasingly complex subfields within architecture. Two tracks are offered: Building Science, Technology and Sustainability, focused on how the environmental conditions and processes of buildings affect occupants, and History, Theory and Society, which situates a history of the built environment in broad social, political, and cultural frameworks.
Master of Advanced Architectural Design (MAAD)
If you already have a professional degree in architecture and wish to continue to explore current design issues in a stimulating, rigorous, and experimental studio setting, our one-year MAAD post-professional program is for you. A year-long studio is at the core of this non-accredited program, and it’s integrated with seminars and lectures in design theory, history, digital applications, and building technology.
PhD in Architecture
Berkeley’s PhD program in architecture is interdisciplinary in outlook, reaching into the various disciplines related to architecture and incorporating substantial knowledge from outside fields. You have the option to choose between two areas of focus: Two tracks are offered: Building Science, Technology and Sustainability, focused on how environmental conditions and processes of buildings affect occupants, and History, Theory and Society, which situates a history of the built environment in broad social, political, and cultural frameworks.
PhD in City & Regional Planning
The PhD in City & Regional Planning provides training in urban and planning theory and the practice of planning. You’ll work with faculty who have expertise in community and economic development, transportation planning, urban design, international development, environmental planning, and global urbanism.
PhD in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning
Berkeley’s PhD in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning focuses on the theories and methods that underlie the field and the processes of planning and design as they relate to the solution of problems in the natural and urban environments.
Concurrent Degrees
Certificates
Graduate Certificate in Global Urban Humanities
Global Urban Humanities provides a framework for the study of cities and urban life that brings together approaches from many disciplines. Participation in the program introduces you to an active community of scholars, urban practitioners, and artists engaged in developing new methods of research and teaching.
Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST)
GIST enables specialized, multidisciplinary training and research opportunities in various emerging areas of geospatial information science and technology.
Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate (IGCRE)
The IGCRE recognizes interdisciplinary training in real estate, including real estate investment, real estate law, and the role of real estate development in the built environment.