Monday, September 8, 2008

5 Year Master of Architecture - Confusing Degree

I am trying to wade thru all the wonderful information on architectural programs to help my daughter narrow down her search.

Frankly I am a bit confused by the degree programs. I see that many schools offer a 5 year B Arch professional degree for students entering college. However a few such as Tulane offer a 5 year M Arch degree for students in the same situation.

Father of high school student.
______

Question
Would Tulane's program be a more accelerated one, with a higher level of competence, than say a B Arch program at Cornell?

Answer
No -- You would need to carefully compare the two curricula and not just look at the degree title.

If you visit - www.naab.org -- you can search a list of all accredited programs by the type of degree. Many schools offer the BArch, but just as many offer the MArch.

A few years ago, NAAB, the accredited agency determined that they should not dictate the degree nomenclature, but rather leave that to the school. For this reason, many schools changed from a 5 year BArch to a 5 or 5+ year MArch. On the surface, they may be the same, but some schools now offer a degree (preprofessional) prior to the accredited degree. For example a 4 year BS in Architecture. This provides an opportunity for the student to leave after four years and also for the school not to admit the student for the graduate program.

Question
And one more question if I may: Do architecture firms regard students graduating with a B Arch 5 year degree similarly to another graduate with a 4 year undergrad degree and M Arch grad degree?

Answer
Ultimately, firms want to know what the graduate can do regardless of the degree however, the firm may have a preference based on the degree of the firm's principal. If I have a BArch, I may prefer a graduate with a BArch or vice versa.

Needless to say, it is confusing to understand it all.

Dr. Architecture

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

can someone give me a list of the schools which offer the 5 year MArch degree? I know there are 12.

Anonymous said...

Texas Tech

Anonymous said...

Kansas State University offers it.

Anonymous said...

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Dr. Architecture said...

Master of Architecture – Undergraduate/5 Years

Drury University
Judson University
Kansas State University
Kansas, University of
Montana State University
Tulane University
Wentworth Institute of Technology

Anonymous said...

is architecture ever going to become a four year course?its just heard.........

Anonymous said...

I'm in a 5 year MArch program at Norwich University in VT. It's an intense program. You received a B.S. after 4 years and then "reapply" to the Master's Program (and might not get in!) A difficult path with very little wiggle room in the curriculum. I'm looking for a school that will accept my credits from Norwich University in full! I will not accept having to "re-do" any semesters! Can anyone help?

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Morgan State University offers a 5-year Master's Degree option.

Anonymous said...

Hampton Univesity Offers a 5.5 year Master of Architecture degree. They changed it from the 5-year Bachelor's in 2007.

Unknown said...

California Baptist University also offers a 5 year, Single Institution, M. Arch degree. They offer a 4 year B.A. in Architecture degree for those who either choose to leave after 4 years to pursue grad school elsewhere, or who do not qualify to continue on to the graduate year.