The School of Architecture’s undergraduate architecture program combines the intensity of a professional education with opportunities afforded by a world-class research university. Our rigorous curriculum emphasizes design, as well as history, technology, representation, and structures. Early on, students are introduced to basic conceptual skills and the fundamental elements of architecture. They learn to communicate their ideas through models and drawings, working fluidly and seamlessly between analog and digital representation. In later years, they apply lessons learned to both real-world and speculative problems.
STUDIO LEARNING
At the center of the student experience is a sequence of studio courses that serve as laboratories of innovation. Studio learning encourages dialogue, collaboration, risk-taking, innovation, and learning-by-doing. Studio also fosters a close, tight-knit community and our students forge relationships that last a lifetime.
The design studio offers a synthetic form of education, where project-based learning becomes the foundation for developing an understanding of and commitment to the school's core values — broadmindedness, interconnectivity, professionalism, exploration, and activism — all in service of architecture's fundamental mission: to improve the quality of the built and natural environments.
DEGREE TYPES OFFERED
We offer two undergraduate degrees. A professional five-year degree and a pre-professional four-year degree. The School of Architecture also offers dual degrees, detailed below.
UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE [BARCH]
A five-year professional degree, the Bachelor of Architecture features a rigorous design-oriented curriculum with a solid foundation in technology and the history of architecture. The degree is evaluated and accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and contains the required academic coursework to pursue internship, and eventually, licensure.
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURAL STUDIES [BSAS]
A four-year pre-professional degree with an optional architectural history track that contains part of the coursework required for licensure. BSAS must be followed by a professional degree to pursue licensure and is an excellent platform for future graduate studies in architecture and associated fields.
DUAL DEGREES
The School of Architecture also offers two undergraduate dual degrees. These include the Bachelor of Architecture / Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering, sponsored jointly with the Cockrell School of Engineering, and the Bachelor of Architecture / Plan II Honors, sponsored jointly with the College of Liberal Arts.
ADMISSIONS INFORMATION
The School of Architecture is one of the smallest academic units at The University of Texas at Austin. Our undergraduate student body exemplifies the diverse constitution of the communities we strive to serve. In support of unique perspectives and experiences, all applications are reviewed with an understanding that excellence may manifest itself in many areas and may be expressed in different forms. Visit our Undergraduate Admissions page for more information and Frequently Asked Questions.
STUDENT WORK
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FOLLOW US
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@utsoaFinal reviews kick off next week and we’re excited to invite several out-of-town reviewers to @utaustintx. Visit the link in our bio for bios and more information about these accomplished practitioners and academics.
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@utsoaWe’re excited to announce that Luis E. Carranza has been named the School of Architecture’s 2024 commencement speaker.
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@utsoaThere’s still time to support UTSOA during this year’s #UT40for40 campaign! Donate by 10 pm tonight at the link in our bio to benefit our students, faculty, and programs.
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@utsoa40 Hours for the Forty Acres is here! A gift of any size will help the School of Architecture level the playing field for our students.
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@utsoaAs part of a long-standing collaboration with the @nationalparkservice, students in Associate Professor Benjamin Ibarra-Sevilla’s @el__chubasco Graphic Documentation course traveled to Maryland last fall for four days of fieldwork in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Historic Park.
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@utsoaOn Friday, April 12, our 2022-24 Emerging Scholar Tyler Swingle @tylrswngl will host a one-day “Fiber Fiction” colloquium in the Mebane Gallery.
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@utsoaWe’re still buzzing from all the excitement from Friday’s Graduate Open House ☀️ Thank you to all of the prospective students and families who joined us—We hope to see you back here this fall!
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@utsoaTomorrow, Bachelor of Interior Design student Eamanne Moharram is taking over our Instagram to show us what her Advanced Studio, “Design in 4D: Adaptive Cultural Constructs,” got up to in Mexico City earlier this term.
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@utsoaOn Wednesday, the artist @claudia__wieser closes out our Spring 2024 lecture series with her lecture “Material Matters,” taking place at 5:00 in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall.