Master of Architecture (MArch)

Berkeley’s Master of Architecture is centered around the design studio and enriched by courses in building science, technology and 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. We encourage you to identify your own creative and research passions, with the support of your instructors and peers. 

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. 

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).

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. 

At CED, you can earn a concurrent degree with your MArch. Follow the links below to learn more about our options to earn either a Master of Landscape Architecture or Master of City Planning alongside your MArch.

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 offers several scholarships to incoming students, based on evidence of academic excellence and/or financial need. Notification of these awards will arrive within a few weeks of your acceptance letter. Students are also encouraged to apply for competitive university fellowships.

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

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.)

All of our students also have access to one-on-one counseling offered by the College of Environmental career advisor, as well as 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.

So you’re ready to apply? 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. 

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

Applications Open: Thursday September 12, 2024
Application Deadline: Friday January 3, 2025 8:59PM PT / 11:59PM ET
Admission Decision Notifications: Mid-March 2025
Funding Decision Notifications: Late-March 2025
Decision Deadline: April 15, 2025
Semester begins: Mid-August 2025

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.

For a complete breakdown of student tuition, fees, and charges please visit the Office of the Registrar’s website: Graduate Professional – College of Environmental Design.

These figures may not be final; actual tuition, fees, and charges are subject to change by the Regents of the University of California or, as authorized, by the President of the University of California. Accordingly, final approved levels and charges may differ from the amounts shown.

Note there is a Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition (PDST) increase over the next 5 years of 3.5%. PDST is not covered by tuition remission associated with academic student employment (ASE) as a GSI, GSR, Reader or Tutor and departments are not able to provide aid to cover the PDST for all students each semester.

For an estimated Graduate Student Budget, which includes tuition/fees, books/supplies, room/board, personal costs, transportation and health insurance, please visit the Berkeley Financial Aid & Scholarships website: Cost of Attendance: Graduate Student Budget.

For information about course costs, please visit CED’s Fees + Financial Aid Page 

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 eight-year term, an eight-year term with conditions, or a two-year term of continuing accreditation, or a three-year term of initial accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established education standards. Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a non-accredited undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the non-accredited degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

The University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:

The most recent NAAB accreditation visit for all programs was 2016.
Next accreditation visit: 2024

For licensing in California, our 2- and 3-year, NAAB-accredited Masters of Architecture degree has an experiential equivalent of 5 years (maximum credits allowed). Candidates eligible as of January 1, 2005 or after are subject to IDP/IAP requirements. Please see the California Architects Board website for more information about experience equivalents.

If you have any additional questions, please email our graduate advisors at archgrad@berkeley.edu. Feel free to reach out to us!