for the degree of Master of Architecture in Architecture

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The School of Architecture offers a graduate program, leading to a Master of Architecture degree.

Here students can develop a specialized professional focus in one of the school’s Program Areas, or craft their own focus through courses within our college and across campus. Students may also elect to enroll in one of the school’s Joint Degree Programs. Located within a world-class research university, the M.Arch curriculum gives students the opportunity to work with faculty in an atmosphere of scholarship and innovation.

STEM Classification and OPT Employment

Our M.Arch degree is STEM-classified. International students with an F-1 visa are eligible to remain in the US for OPT (Optional Practical Training) employment for up to three years and two months after graduation, and those granted an H-1b visa can stay an additional six years (for a total of 9 years).

Admission

The admission grade point average for full standing in the Graduate College and the school must be at least 3.0 (A = 4.0). For applicants who meet the other requirements but have an admission GPA under 3.0, admission with limited standing may be permitted if evidence of exceptional qualification is presented.

Applicants are selected for admission on the basis of undergraduate academic performance and profession-related experience. Application material is evaluated by faculty members. The faculty's recommendations are based upon an appraisal of the admission grade point average determined from official transcripts, a portfolio or brochure of applicant's past work in architecture, a statement of objectives, three letters of recommendation, and relevant professional work experience.

To apply, go to the Graduate College online application. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores are not required for School of Architecture Masters Degree applicants. Please review the English proficiency requirements for graduate admission.

Financial Aid

Financial aid for graduate students in architecture is available in the form of fellowships and assistantships (teaching, research, and graduate or resource). Qualified candidates are considered for financial support upon application and in subsequent years of study.

for the degree of Master of Architecture in Architecture

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The MARCH is the School’s accredited degree program and must demonstrate that each graduate possesses the knowledge and skills defined by the learning outcomes set out below. The knowledge and skills are the minimum for meeting the demands of an internship leading to registration for architectural practice.

The school must provide evidence that its graduates have satisfied each criterion through required coursework.  If credits are granted for courses taken at other institutions or online, evidence must be provided that the courses are comparable to those offered in the accredited degree program.

When students complete the MARCH degree program, they will be able to:

1. Apply Specialized Knowledge
   1. Engage in the practice of architecture in its many forms.
   2. Employ design processes to understand, conceive, and create the many facets of built environments.
   3. Utilize the interplay of form and space to create compelling experiences in the built environment.
   4. Address environmental, social, political, cultural, and economic challenges through the application of design inquiry.
   5. Apply advanced documentation, research, analysis, and design techniques to create innovative design solutions to pressing global challenges.
2. Apply Broad and Integrative Knowledge
   1. Solve complex problems through the use of advanced design techniques.
   2. Communicate complex ideas and concepts through a mastery of graphic, verbal, physical, and digital means.
   3. Integrate community voices, cultural perspectives, and participatory practices into design solutions.
   4. Employ an understanding of the complex intersections between design and environmental, social, economic, political, and cultural phenomena in historical and contemporary contexts.
   5. Use scholarly inquiry to answer questions in support of design solutions.
3. Utilize Differentiated Modes of Thinking
   1. Understand, differentiate, and apply analytical, critical, and conceptual thinking to the design challenges of the twenty-first century.
   2. Evaluate and apply theories of the built environment to understand their impacts on global ecology, human experience, and wellbeing.
   3. Research and critically analyze historic and contemporary humanistic conditions related to the built environment in local, regional, and global geographies.
4. Collaborate Successfully
   1. Foster teamwork and consensus decision-making.
   2. Lead and steer complex processes to completion.
   3. Value and integrate interdisciplinarity as well as diverse disciplinary approaches in the realm of design,
5. Contributing to Community, Civic, and Global Equity
   1. Demonstrate the ability to make empathic and ethical decisions throughout the design process.
   2. Work toward a more inclusive profession that welcomes practitioners of all genders, abilities, races, ethnicities, and ages.
   3. Foreground social, environmental, and economic justice in the design of the environment to contribute to greater equity, diversity, and inclusion.

for the degree of Master of Architecture in Architecture

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School of Architecture

Director of the School: Francisco Javier Rodríguez-Suárez
Associate Director for Curricular and Academic Programs: Emelie Mies
School Website
117 Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 611 Taft Drive, Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 333-7720
arch-grad@illinois.edu

College of Fine & Applied Arts

College Website

Admissions

Overview of Grad College Admissions & Requirements