Master’s degree
Master of Architecture
University of Massachusetts Amherst · Department of Architecture, College of Humanities & Fine Arts · Amherst, Massachusetts, United States
- Official award
- Master of ArchitectureM.Arch
- Pathway
- ProfessionalStated for United States
- Format
- On campustypically two years (advanced standing) or three years
- Tuition
- Not published
About this program
NAAB-accredited professional master of architecture with a two-year advanced-standing track and a three-year track for applicants without a preprofessional architecture degree.
Intended audience: Applicants from any discipline, including those without prior architecture experience.
- Subject
- Architecture
- Department
- Department of Architecture, College of Humanities & Fine Arts
- Awarding body
- Not stated on the pages we checked
Qualification and professional pathway
Pathway is classified only from a statement on an official page. A degree title such as B.Arch, BA, BSc, M.Arch or MSc does not decide it, and no degree by itself grants permission to practise as an architect.
- Degree level
- Master’s degreeA postgraduate degree. Entry requirements differ widely: some accept graduates of any subject, others require a prior architecture degree.
- Pathway
- Professional pathwayThe program itself is a professionally accredited or validated degree in the stated jurisdiction, as shown by the source quoted on the page. Further steps are normally still required before registration.
- Why we classify it this way
- The department lists the M.Arch tracks as NAAB-accredited degree programs; the NAAB directory also lists the program as accredited.“UMass Amherst's Department of Architecture offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs”Source
- Previous architecture degree required
- Depends on route
- Applicants without an architecture degree
- Yes
- Further professional requirements
- Most US registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure.Source
Accreditation, validation and recognition
Recorded for this program and campus, with the authority’s role. Institutional recognition, degree-awarding authority, program accreditation, professional validation and eligibility toward registration are different things; none of them is full professional registration.
Verified in official recordNational Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB)Program accreditationFull statusUS
Scope: Master of Architecture, UMass Amherst (NAAB program record). NAAB directory status: Accredited; current status term end 2031-12-31.
Dates: not stated to 31 December 2031
Study structure
- Delivery
- On campusTaught at the listed campus.
- Study mode
- Not published
- Duration
- typically two years (advanced standing) or three years
- Thesis or dissertation
- Design courses, including Design Studio sequence, digital representation and fabrication sequence, and Master's thesis sequence
- Intakes
- Not published
- Campus
- Amherst campus (Olver Design Building)210 Olver Design Building, 551 North Pleasant Street
Source could not be re-checked automatically.
Teaching language
- Taught in
- English
- English
- English teaching not verifiedAn English-language website does not mean a program is taught in English.
- Published language requirements
- Language tests are required of foreign student applicants.
Admissions
- Portfolio
- Portfolio requiredPortfolio and/or documentation of previous creative work and/or research, no more than twenty pages.
- Interview
- Not published
- Academic prerequisites
- One semester each of calculus and physics before the stated year of study.
- Documents
- Transcripts, 2 letters of recommendation, personal statement (max 3 pages), portfolio.
- Official instructions
- Application instructions
Source could not be re-checked automatically.
Fees and costs
Original currency is authoritative. Each price keeps its basis (per year, per credit, whole program), academic year and student category, and is never converted. Annual tuition and whole-program tuition are different figures.
The institution does not publish tuition for this program on the pages we checked. Ask for current fees, what they include and whether studio, materials, printing, software, equipment and field-trip costs are extra.
Sources and verification
Not published on the program’s source pages: tuition, full-time or part-time options, intakes.
Sources and how this was checked
Last checked 19 October 2026. Each fact carries a verbatim quote that is re-checked against the live page. Research methodology.
Sources (checked 19 October 2026)