Other Academic Opportunities

The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture is a non-departmental collection of strong disciplines with a shared belief in the potential of collective action. With a longstanding legacy of preparing students to be leaders in the field, the school builds upon this strong foundation while continually refining its approach to teaching, research, and scholarly work. As part of this commitment, the school offers a suite of academic opportunities to enhance students' educational experience.

The Professional Residency Program [PRP] offers upper-level architecture students a unique opportunity to expand their education through work experience in the architectural profession. PRP has provided internship opportunities to honors students since 1974 and, over the past 25 years, our students have been linked with 300 firms in 30 countries.

Public Interest Design emerged out a call for the design professions to directly respond to the needs of under-resourced communities. Specifically, Public Interest Design attempts to raise the question of equity and the extent to which the design professions apply expertise to issues of everyday life. The School of Architecture offers multiple avenues for students to develop the skills necessary to respond to the ethical complications of engaging the public and its spaces.

The School of Architecture offers a range of stackable graduate certificates that allow students to pursue specific interests and develop a more in-depth specialization within our fields. Open to all UT Austin graduate students, each certificate is transcriptable and requires only three classes to complete.   

In order to better engage the world in which we live, the UT School of Architecture encourages students to pursue first-hand experiences of diverse peoples, places, and cultures. Educational travel experiences can be integrated into degree plans in several ways.

The Urban Land Institute's Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition is an annual graduate-level competition intended to provide students with an interdisciplinary learning experience. Student teams work on large-scale sites with complex challenges, incorporating design, planning, market potential, and feasibility into their development strategies.