The School of Architecture at UNC Charlotte offers a fully accredited program recognized for the outstanding quality of its faculty and students, its commitment to outreach and community involvement, and the quality and extent of resources offered through its labs, classrooms, and studios. Students organize their study around concentrations in Urbanism, Technology, or Design, Theory & Practice. Each area of study is well supported not only by coursework but also by travel and research opportunities. The College participates in several international exchange programs and offers summer travel and study programs in Spain, Italy, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and China to broaden students’ global understanding and further inform their work. The specialized study of urban design is also focused under the auspices of either a separate but interrelated graduate program in that discipline or a dual degree program that combines the two-year Master of Architecture program with graduate study in Urban Design. The Urban Design Program is based in UNC Charlotte’s Center City Building in the heart of Uptown Charlotte.
Each curricular program offers each student significant individual time and attention, an engaged and accessible faculty, and a wealth of diversity through both the interests of the faculty and the varied background of the graduate students themselves. Because the School stresses the importance of ‘making’ in addition to thinking, the wood, metal, computer, and digital fabrication workshops are all equipped with the latest high performance equipment to enable students to both explore and embody their design ideas. Contact with the profession is also emphasized and the School is frequently enriched by the expertise of local practitioners. An extensive lecture series involving nationally and internationally recognized designers and theorists further enhances the educational environment and exposure to contemporary schools of thought.
Program Accreditation
The School of Architecture maintains accredited status through the National Architectural Accrediting Board, which reviews the curriculum, facility, faculty, and program resources annually. In addition, the NAAB conducts an intensive site visit every six years. The School has maintained full accreditation standards as prescribed by this board and includes the following required statement:
“In the United States, most 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 professional degree programs in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. regional accreditation, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an eight-year, three-year, or two-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 require a preprofessional undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.”
University of North Carolina at Charlotte, School of Architecture, offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:
- B.Arch. (158 undergraduate credit hours)
- M.Arch. (preprofessional degree + 60 graduate credit hours)
- M.Arch. (non-preprofessional degree + 96 credit hours)
