Master of Architecture Curricular Tracks
M.Arch. I Curriculum (96 credit hours)
The M.Arch. I curriculum consists of 96 credit hours completed over the course of three academic years and one summer session following the first academic year. Degree pathways may be found on the Academics website.
Design Studios (42 credit hours)
Technology Courses (15 credit hours)
History Courses (9 credit hours)
Methods Courses (12 credit hours)
Topical Electives (12 credit hours)
Unrestricted Electives (6 credit hours)
Two additional 3-credit courses are required for the completion of this degree. Courses in other departments may require permissions or pre-requisites.
Degree Total= 96 Credit Hours
M.Arch II Curriculum (60 credit hours)
The M.Arch. II curriculum requires a minimum of 60 credit hours to be completed during two academic years. If applicants accepted to the M.Arch. II curriculum are evaluated and found deficient in entry-level competencies, curriculum substitutions and/or additional courses will be required.
To ensure that incoming students are evaluated appropriately, the School of Architecture may require candidates for the M.Arch. II curriculum to furnish the Architecture Graduate Admissions Committee and Graduate Program Coordinator relevant course descriptions, syllabi, and course materials (where necessary) of all architecture courses passed and completed that may satisfy entry-level competencies.
Design Studios (24 credit hours)
Technology Courses (3 credit hours)
History Courses (3 credit hours)
Methods Courses (9 credit hours)
Topical Electives (12 credit hours)
Unrestricted Electives (9 credit hours)
Three additional 3-credit courses are required for the completion of this degree. Courses in other departments may require permissions or pre-requisites.
Degree Total = 60 Credit Hours
Note on M.Arch. II Requirements
Applicants to the M.Arch II Track who lack some of the expected entry-level competencies for this track may be admitted to it on the condition that they substitute some of the electives on the above course list with courses on the M.Arch. I Track course list. In all cases, the time-to-degree and required credits will remain the same: 60 credit hours earned over two academic years. To evaluate potential deficiencies in entry-level competencies that may need to be addressed through course substitutions, applicants to this track may be asked to provide course descriptions, syllabi, and/or course materials for specific architecture courses listed on their transcripts.
M.Arch. Advanced Standing Curriculum (40 credit hours)
Highly qualified applicants from UNC Charlotte’s Bachelor of Arts in Architecture program may be considered for Advanced Standing in the Master of Architecture program. The M.Arch. A.S. (Advanced Standing) is a 40 credit hour graduate degree path leading to an accredited professional degree in Architecture. The program builds upon a set of intensive summer experiences that bridge the undergraduate and graduate programs at UNC Charlotte.
Design Studios (18 credit hours)
Technology Courses (3 credit hours)
Methods Courses (10 credit hours)
Unrestricted Electives (9 credit hours)
Three additional 3-credit courses are required for the completion of this degree. Courses in other departments may require permissions or pre-requisites.
Degree Total = 40 Credit Hours
Dual Degree Options
Students in the M.Arch II or A.S. tracks, and occasionally in the M.Arch I track, may wish to combine their professional architecture studies with graduate work in other programs. These dual degrees typically add a calendar year to student’s course of study.
Options include the M.Arch/MSIT Dual Degree , with a research-based specialization in computational design, and the M.Arch./M.U.D Dual Degree , for a specialization in urban design. The M.U.D program includes one summer with a required study abroad experience and is housed off the main campus in the Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City.
Admission Requirements
Admission to the M.Arch. program occurs through UNC Charlotte’s Graduate School, and all applicants to the program must complete, provide, or meet the following requirements of the Graduate School:
- An application form and applicable fee.
- Official transcripts for all post-secondary education.
- A minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0.
- A statement of purpose (catered to an applicant’s objectives to pursue graduate study in architecture).
- Three letters of recommendation.
- English proficiency test scores if English is not an applicant’s native language or if an applicant did not earn a degree from an English-speaking institution.
- GRE or other test scores are not required for the M.Arch. program.
Applicants to the M.Arch. I Track have the following additional requirements:
- A digital portfolio of work that offers evidence of creativity, self-motivation, analysis, and critical thinking. Such examples are not expected to be architectural in nature. Visual work such as painting, sculpture, furniture making, photography, etc., are acceptable, as are fiction writing, poetry, and any other reasonable evidence of sustained creative endeavor. See portfolio formatting instructions and FAQs on the SoA’s Graduate Admissions website.
- College-level pre-calculus course.
Applicants to the M.Arch. II Track have the following additional requirements:
- A digital portfolio of work that offers significant evidence of a mastery of architectural skill and knowledge as well as other creative work. See portfolio formatting instructions and FAQs on the SoA’s Graduate Admissions website.
- A minimum of six semesters of architectural design studios.
- A minimum of two semesters of architectural history/theory.
- A minimum of four semesters of architectural technology equivalent to the following UNC Charlotte’s School of Architecture courses:
Applicants to the M.Arch. AS Track have the following additional requirements:
- A digital portfolio of work that offers significant evidence of a mastery of architectural skill and knowledge as well as other creative work. See portfolio formatting instructions and FAQs on the SoA’s Graduate Admissions website.
- A Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from UNC Charlotte, with either Pre-Professional Track requirements (Catalog years prior to 2025/2026) or the Practice Concentration (Catalog years including and since 2025/2026)
- Applicants with the Practice Concentration, which requires 120 credit hours, must have earned an additional 8 credit hours of undergraduate coursework to be eligible for M.Arch. AS Track.
Review of Transcripts
The SoA may require candidates for the M.Arch. II curriculum to furnish the Architecture Graduate Admissions Committee and Graduate Program Coordinator relevant course descriptions, syllabi, and course materials (where necessary) of all architecture courses passed and completed that may satisfy entry-level competencies. The M.Arch. Admissions committee is solely responsible for determining how previous coursework may be applied to satisfy program requirements.
Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Graduate Assistantships
Information on funding sources for graduate students at UNC Charlotte may be on the Graduate School’s Funding for Graduate Education website. Scholarships provided through the SoA may be found on its Scholarships website.
The SoA also offers a limited number of highly competitive teaching assistantships (TAs) and research assistantships (RAs), including some funded through the Graduate School’s Graduate Assistant Support Plan (GASP) program. There is no separate application process for these assistantships; the Associate Director and the Graduate Program Director for the M.Arch. program review the transcripts and portfolios of admitted students and offer the awards to the most qualified applicants and returning students who meet the specific needs of a given academic year.
Progression from UNC Charlotte’s B.A. in Arch. Program
The School of Architecture Graduate Admissions Committee automatically endorses applicants to the SoA’s M.Arch. program who earn the Bachelor of Art in Architecture from UNC Charlotte a minimum GPA of 3.5, both cumulative and in their major-based courses, at the conclusion of their penultimate or final semester (whichever is determined by time of the application). This policy applies to all tracks and concentrations of the B.A. in Architecture program, but no applicant is considered to be accepted into the M.Arch. program until/unless the applicant is accepted into the Graduate School. Applicants who meet this GPA standard need to submit only one (instead of three) letter of recommendation. All other admission requirements are still required.
Applicants who earn the B.A. in Architecture from UNC Charlotte with a GPA lower than 3.5 (either overall or in their major-based courses) will be evaluated by the SoA Admissions Committee alongside all other applicants.
Applicants who are accepted into the SoA’s M.Arch. program after earning the B.A. in Architecture from UNC Charlotte are placed into one of three curricula, based on their earned concentration:
- Admitted applicants with the Architectural Studies Concentration are placed into the three-year M.Arch. I Track.
- Admitted applicants with the Pre-Professional Concentration are placed into the two-year M.Arch. II Track.
- Admitted applicants with the Practice Concentration are placed into the 12-month M.Arch. Advanced Standing Track.
Applicants may request or may be offered a different placement based on their experience and the strength of the application materials.
In some cases, progression from the B.A. in Architecture program into the M.Arch program (or into a specific track of the program) may be conditional upon completing additional coursework prior to beginning of the term to which an applicant is admitted.
Academic Standing Requirements
All students in the M.Arch. program are subject to UNC Charlotte’s Academic Standing Policy for Graduate Students. Students are expected to earn a grade of A or B in all courses included in their plan of study and must maintain a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale). Per UNC Charlotte Graduate School Master’s Degree Requirements, students must maintain “an overall GPA of 3.0 or above in courses on the degree plan of study. No more than six hours evaluated as C may be counted toward the minimum hours required for the master’s degree.” A single grade of U (unsatisfactory) or an accumulation of three grades of C will result in the suspension of a student’s enrollment in the program.
Students suspended from the program through violations of these or other policies may appeal for reinstatement and be granted a modified program of study to continue their degree path, which may require retaking some courses. Readmitted students who receive a single additional grade of C or U will have their status in the program terminated permanently.
In addition to abiding by those policies, M.Arch. students may not receive more than one grade of C in a design studio. If a student receives more than one grade of C in a design studio, one of the two design studios (as determined by the Associate Director and Graduate Program Director for the M.Arch.) must be retaken, and the student must earn a grade of B or above to remain in good standing in the M.Arch. program.
No more than two courses may be retaken in the program.
Retaking courses to abide by University and/or SoA policies may extend a student’s time-to-degree and required credits earned.
Graduate Advising
A critical component of any successful graduate program is academic advising and guidance during the course of a student’s program of study. The primary advisor for all graduate students in the School of Architecture is the Associate Director, in consultation with the appropriate Graduate Program Director.
Transfer Credit
Transfer credit may be granted for up to 30% of the required credit hours for the M.Arch. II and M.Arch. II tracks (respectively, a maximum of 28 credits and 18 credits). Transfer credit is not granted for any of the required credit hours for the M.Arch. AS track.
Admitted students may request transfer credit for graduate-level coursework from the Associate Director and Graduate Program Director for the M.Arch. program after an admissions decision has been rendered. Requests must demonstrate that a course (or courses) on a student’s transcript meets or exceeds both the content and the rigor of a course (or courses) required in their plan of study, and that the student earned a grade of B or above the course (or courses).
If a required course in a plan of study is waived, the student may be advised to substitute those credit hours with an additional elective course, or to process a Credit by Examination request in order to reduce their course load in a given semester.
Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (iPAL)
In 2015, the School of Architecture at UNC Charlotte was selected by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) as one of 14 architecture programs in the U.S. to offer an inaugural “Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure” (IPAL) pathway as part of its NAAB-accredited M.Arch. programs. The IPAL curriculum integrates academic coursework, Architectural Experience Program (AXP) internship, and Architecture Registration Exam (ARE) as part of one’s professional architectural education.
The core of the program features a structured full-time internship during summer terms, part-time internship during the academic year and a one-year, full-time internship prior to one’s final year of study. The IPAL curriculum adds one year of office placement for those pursuing the M.Arch. II and M.Arch. A.S. tracks. Successful participants in the program are eligible for all six sections of the ARE prior to graduation. Candidates must have a record of at least 1,250 hours of documented AXP credits prior to starting their M.Arch. curricula. Participants must submit their interests and qualifications via an application process after admittance to the M.Arch. Contact the Graduate Program Director for additional information about the IPAL pathway.
Graduation Clearance
In order to meet UNC Charlotte’s Graduate School requirements for degree candidacy, all graduate students must receive a written certification from their department confirming successful coursework completion. This report requires approvals from the Graduate Program Director as well as Graduate School administrators. The completion of this report results in the granting of the degree. In addition, each student should make application for their degree by completing the online Application for Degree through Banner Self Service no later than the filing date specified in the University Academic Calendar.
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