Architecture is the design of a building, both its interior and its exterior. We expect the best architecture schools to teach the field as a form of art that not only is beautiful, but also highly functional. The students who major in architecture need to learn not just the how of structures, but the why. This design of spaces must in its highest form complement its surroundings, and create a highly functional, pleasing and structurally sound space. In this sense, the architect must be able to not only be creative, but also to work with skilled structural or construction engineers who may themselves have a different background – one being in the art world, and the other in the world of science and technology.
Ranking the Best Colleges for Architecture Majors
In the ranking table below, we have listed the current top architecture schools, factoring in both undergraduate and graduate programs.
| Rank | College | City | State | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornell University | Ithaca | NY | 95.84 |
| 2 | University of Texas | Austin | TX | 95.48 |
| 3 | Princeton University | Princeton | NJ | 94.03 |
| 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | MA | 93.42 |
| 5 | Columbia University | New York | NY | 91.44 |
| 6 | Harvard University | Cambridge | MA | 91.31 |
| 7 | Rice University | Houston | TX | 87.94 |
| 8 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | PA | 85.54 |
| 9 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | CA | 85.43 |
| 10 | Rhode Island School of Design | Providence | RI | 84.58 |
| 11 | University of Michigan | Ann Arbor | MI | 84.05 |
| 12 | Yale University | New Haven | CT | 83.52 |
| 13 | University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | CA | 83.47 |
| 14 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh | PA | 81.60 |
| 15 | The Ohio State University | Columbus | OH | 80.20 |
| 16 | Penn State | University Park | PA | 77.79 |
| 17 | University of Washington | Seattle | WA | 75.85 |
| 18 | University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign | Champaign | IL | 75.56 |
| 19 | Iowa State University | Ames | IA | 75.55 |
| 20 | Arizona State University | Tempe | AZ | 75.35 |
| 21 | University Of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison | WI | 71.48 |
| 22 | University of Florida | Gainesville | FL | 71.01 |
| 23 | Virginia Polytechnic University (Virginia Tech) | Blacksburg | VA | 70.84 |
| 24 | Duke University | Durham | NC | 69.04 |
| 25 | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta | GA | 68.95 |
| 26 | University of Arizona | Tuscon | AZ | 65.69 |
| 27 | University of Notre Dame | South Bend | IN | 63.98 |
| 28 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles | CA | 63.08 |
| 29 | Pratt Institute | NY | NY | 58.81 |
| 30 | Rensselear Polytechnic Institute | Troy | NY | 57.66 |
| 31 | Auburn University | Auburn | AL | 57.36 |
| 32 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh | NC | 57.25 |
| 33 | Syracuse University | Syracuse | NY | 57.23 |
| 34 | University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Knoxville | TN | 55.54 |
| 35 | Illinois Institute of Technology | Chicago | IL | 55.39 |
| 36 | University of Oregon | Eugene | OR | 54.98 |
| 37 | Clemson University | Clemson | SC | 54.93 |
| 38 | Stanford University | Palo Alto | CA | 53.21 |
| 39 | University of Virginia | Charlottesville | VA | 52.85 |
| 40 | Tulane University | New Orleans | LA | 51.68 |
| 41 | University of Arkansas | Fayetteville | AR | 50.71 |
| 42 | Texas A&M University | College Station | TX | 50.09 |
| 43 | Indiana University | Bloomington | IN | 49.61 |
| 44 | Oklahoma State University | Stillwater | OK | 49.04 |
| 45 | Florida State University | Tallahassee | FL | 48.86 |
| 46 | University of Georgia | Athens | GA | 48.86 |
| 47 | University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV) | Las Vegas | NV | 48.65 |
| 48 | Mississippi State University | Starkville | MS | 48.64 |
| 49 | Louisiana State University (LSU) | Baton Rouge | LA | 48.44 |
| 50 | University of Nebraska | Lincoln | NB | 48.39 |
More information on our RealRank analyses used in creating this ranking can be found in our ranking of the best colleges page. The underlined colleges link to our ranking profile specific to that institution. If your college is not profiled as yet, contact us using the contact form.
