Architecture Majors

What is Architecture?

Architecture is one of the three classic disciplines, alongside medicine and law. It is a practice that blends artistic visualization, technical skill, and material realities. Architects integrate problem solving strategies, critical thinking tactics, spatial acuity, aesthetic sensitivity, construction methodologies, cultural understandings, and social responsibilities. Architects are critical thinkers. They study complex needs, conditions, and criteria to imagine and propose places yet to exist. Architects are makers. They create, collaborate, and communicate through drawings, models, words and images. Their work translates ideas into concepts and guides designs into built structures.

Why study Architecture at Drexel?

The design studio defines the heart of Drexel Architecture. Studio courses challenge students to grow their design literacy from routine to mastery. Collateral courses – history & theory, representation, building technologies, design thinking, and professional practices – build knowledge that grounds each student’s academic and professional practice with breadth and depth. General education courses – applied sciences, social sciences, and the humanities – supplement the major’s coursework to graduate well-rounded, empathetic practitioners. Concurrent work in professional architecture and/or building industry firms prepares our students with robust, real-world, long-term experiences that launch meaningful careers into architecture and related fields.

Architecture at Drexel: Paths of Study

Our architecture program offers two distinct degree paths of study. Your choice depends on your goal: to consider architecture and adjacent careers or to become a licensed architect.

Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies (BS in Arch Studies)

Architectural Studies is a four-year, full-time flexible pre-professional program. It combines architectural studies with adjacent fields of interest. Students build a comprehensive knowledge of the discipline, hone design skills, and expand their understanding of architecture. It is not a NAAB accredited degree. It can lead to a dual BS/MS degree at Drexel University or a first professional NAAB-accredited M.Arch degree at another institution. This path includes the opportunity to participate in Drexel’s signature co-op program.

Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch)

The Bachelor of Architecture combines the rigors of the academy with the realities of contemporary practices. It cultivates the ethos of a professional discipline through a strong, broad-based curriculum in the arts, design, humanities, social and applied sciences. These courses are adjacent professional curriculum taught be seasoned faculty who reflect the broad diversity of today’s inquiries and practices. This degree path offers an accelerated pathway into professional architectural licensure.

To become a licensed architect, most US jurisdictions stipulate three conditions:

1. Education. Candidates must earn an accredited professional degree from a National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited program
2. Experience. Candidates must accrue professional work experience through the Architecture Experience Program (AXP)
3. Exams. Candidates must pass all six Architectural Registration Exams (ARE)

Education: Drexel’s Bachelor of Architecture is a NAAB accredited professional degree for architectural licensure. It is a comprehensive training into the architecture discipline, the profession, and related fields. To prepare students, Drexel integrates full- and part-time study adjacent extensive professional work experience opportunities in local or regional architecture practices.

Experience: Architecture Experience Program (AXP). B.Arch students do not participate in Drexel’s signature co-op program. Instead, the B.Arch’s unique co-op model enables our students to accrue significant practical AXP hours. Work experience complements each student’s education. Students can accrue most, if not all, of their required work experience while still a student. We offer two options for AXP: the 2+4 option (2+4) and the part-time evening option (PTE).

• 2+4 option. The 2+4 option is an accelerated route to licensure for well-prepared students entering soon after high school. Students are full-time for the first two years. Early program coursework addresses principles of design and professional skills while students satisfy Drexel arts and sciences requirements. Students merge with the PTE option (below) in the remaining four years to continue coursework part-time in the evening. This enables students to work full-time days in local or regional architecture and/or building industry firms. Part-time evening courses meet after 6 pm, Monday through Thursday. Information on 2+4 Option Admissions

• PTE option. Drexel’s PTE option is one of only two such accredited Bachelor of Architecture programs in the United States. It is an affordable alternative for non-traditional and transfer students. Students take all courses part-time in the evening and can work full-time days in local or regional architecture and/or building industry firms. For students who begin their degree path in this option, the full sequence is seven years. Transfer students with university-level design credits can reduce this length if they meet specific program requirements through transcript and portfolio reviews. Part-time evening courses meet after 6 pm, Monday through Thursday. Information on Transfer Admissions

• Note to international students. Our B.Arch curricular structure cannot accommodate international students on J1 visas. Students with J1 visas are encouraged to apply to the BS in Architectural Studies program.

Exams: Architectural Registration Exams (ARE). Drexel is one of very few accredited undergraduate B.Arch programs in the United States authorized to offer the Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL). IPAL enables our B.Arch students to sit for – and pass – ARE exams concurrent to their education while accruing AXP experience hours. Drexel B.Arch students who opt-in and register for IPAL can achieve professional licensure by graduation.

What Skills Will You Learn in an Architecture Program?

Architecture students are:

• Curious
• Empathetic listeners
• Acute observers
• Creative visualizers
• Articulate speakers and writers
• Critical thinkers and problem solvers
• Willing learners who find success through iteration
• Sustainable design practitioners
• Committed to just practices
• Avid sketchbook toters

BS in Architectural Studies students are:

• Interested in architecture and design fields, but unsure about pursuing licensure
• International students holding J1 visas
• Students considering a future M.Arch or adjacent field
• Students who prefer to be a full-time undergraduate college student over 4 years
• Students who want to complete a four-year pre-professional architecture degree
• Students interested in combing other disciplines with architecture, such as digital media, construction management, and sustainability.
• Students who want to participate in Drexel’s signature co-op program
• Students who want to customize an undergraduate curriculum in the design fields

B.Arch students:

• Intend to become a licensed architect
• Want to accelerate their path to licensure through early work experiences
• Want to accelerate their path to licensure through IPAL
• Want a rigorous, studio-based education in architecture
• Will be ready for a part-time program integrating professional work with continued part-time evening coursework

Facilities for Architecture Majors

The Architecture program’s light-filled studios and primary teaching spaces are perched high upon the fourth floor of the URBN Center, Westphal’s state-of-the-art facility. These spaces are supplemented by lecture halls and fabrication shops in adjacent or nearby buildings. Students can access buildings and studios using their secure swipe card 24/7. URBNs ground floor Hybrid Making Lab offers high tech digital equipment, including 3d printers and laser cutters, adjacent analog tools and equipment.

Students are encouraged to have their own laptop, but several computer and photo labs offer additional support and access to specialized software and photography lighting. In house printing services offer low-cost options for plotting and printing.

First and Second year students have a dedicated desk, complete with storage, tack board area, shelving, lighting, and a flat file drawer. First year students are required to purchase a pre-assembled start-up kit of studio equipment, materials, and supplies to be Westphal ready on day one.

Career Opportunities with an Architecture Degree

Students who complete the B.Arch or BS in Architectural Studies pursue a vast range of careers in different design and construction industry settings, geographies, building typologies, market segments, urban strategies, and design research.

Learn more about Drexel Architecture

Need help deciding which undergraduate Architecture degree is best for you? Want to tour the Architecture facilities at Drexel Westphal, or learn more about how our program prepares students for architecture careers? The Westphal Admissions team is available to answer questions, organize a tour, or connect you with faculty. Contact us at westphaladm@drexel.edu or 215.895.1738.

For more information on the BS in Architectural Studies pathway, visit the Drexel University Undergraduate Architecture Catalog: Architectural Studies.

For more information on both B.Arch. pathways, visit the Drexel University Undergraduate Architecture Catalog: Architecture BArch

NAAB Required Accreditation Information

In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a 8-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

At Drexel University, in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, the Department of Architecture, Design & Urbanism offers the following NAAB-accredited degree program:

• Bachelor of Architecture 227 credits, (equivalent to 150 semester credits)
• Next accreditation visit for the Program: 2026

Visit our page to review Drexel University's Architecture Program Accreditation Reports and Documents

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