College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best General Architecture Schools

69 Colleges in the United States
4,982 Architecture Degrees Awarded
$49,005 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in general architecture is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #127 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 69 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Architecture Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 4,982 degrees in general architecture to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great General Architecture School

Best General Architecture Schools Your choice of general architecture school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for general architecture schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your General Architecture Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Architecture
Master's Degrees in Architecture
Doctor's Degrees in Architecture

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Architecture Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.


 

Best Schools for General Architecture in the United States

The schools below may not offer all types of architecture degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

10 Top Schools in Architecture

1
Yale crest
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
$64,046 Median Starting Salary

Yale University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in general architecture. Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Yale is a great university overall.

There were roughly 25 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent year we have data available. Those general architecture students who get their degree from Yale University receive $15,041 more than the average architecture graduate.

More information about a degree in general architecture from Yale University

2

It is hard to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you want to pursue a degree in general architecture. MIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were approximately 28 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent year we have data available. Those general architecture students who get their degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology make $10,984 more than the average architecture student.

More information about a degree in general architecture from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
129 Architecture Degrees Awarded
17.1% Growth in Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in general architecture needs to check out University of California - Berkeley. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 129 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. General Architecture degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley earn a boost of about $8,585 above the average income of general architecture majors.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of California - Berkeley

4
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$60,546 Median Starting Salary

University of Pennsylvania is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in general architecture. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were about 17 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available. General Architecture degree recipients from University of Pennsylvania get an earnings boost of around $11,541 over the typical earnings of general architecture majors.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of Pennsylvania

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
52 Architecture Degrees Awarded
$58,141 Median Starting Salary

Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.

There were roughly 52 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the general architecture program at University of Notre Dame earn $9,136 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of Notre Dame

6
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.

There were roughly 21 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available. Those general architecture students who get their degree from Harvard University earn $13,286 more than the average architecture graduate.

More information about a degree in general architecture from Harvard University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
108 Architecture Degrees Awarded
10.2% Growth in Graduates

UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin. This university ranks 2nd out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were about 108 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent year we have data available. General Architecture degree recipients from The University of Texas at Austin receive an earnings boost of approximately $6,077 over the typical earnings of general architecture graduates.

More information about a degree in general architecture from The University of Texas at Austin

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$53,431 Median Starting Salary

UCLA is a very large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 26 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Those general architecture students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles receive $4,426 more than the standard architecture student.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of California - Los Angeles

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
111 Architecture Degrees Awarded
$54,708 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 36 colleges for overall quality in the state of Maryland.

There were about 111 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent year we have data available. General Architecture degree recipients from University of Maryland - College Park earn a boost of about $5,702 over the typical earnings of general architecture majors.

More information about a degree in general architecture from University of Maryland - College Park

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
50 Architecture Degrees Awarded
26.0% Growth in Graduates

Georgia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #24 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.

There were approximately 50 general architecture students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the general architecture major at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus get $4,124 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in general architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best General Architecture Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 Rice University Houston, TX
12 Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY
13 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
13 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
14 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
15 Clemson University Clemson, SC
16 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
17 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY

General Architecture by Region

View the Best General Architecture Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

One of 8 majors within the Architecture & Related Services area of study, General Architecture has other similar majors worth exploring.

Architecture Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Architecture 4,854
Pre-Architecture Studies 103
Architectural Design 25

View All Architecture Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Architectural Sciences & Technology 6,781
Urban & Regional Planning 2,419
Landscape Architecture 905
Environmental Design 741
Interior Architecture 728
Real Estate Development 420
Architecture (Other) 202
Architectural History 147

View All Architecture Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options