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Wentworth’s Master of Architecture is a professional degree program built on an ethos of applied learning, teaching, and research. One of the few graduate architecture programs in the country with a required co-op component, our M.Arch degree is both NAAB-accredited and STEM-designated.

A Different Kind of Architectural Education

Discover a dynamic M.Arch program at Wentworth, where you'll develop the critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills essential for a rewarding career as an architect.

A Different Kind of Architectural Education
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  • At Wentworth, we are ready to practice

    Launched in 2009, the M.Arch program can already boast well over 1,200 graduates, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in private practice, higher education, and the nonprofit and public service sectors. The work of our faculty and students engages a wide range of contemporary topics, from sustainable biomaterials to artificial intelligence, and from inclusive environments to advanced technologies in fabrication and visualization. 

    Fieldwork & Studios

    We immerse ourselves in travel-based fieldwork, community-engaged outreach projects, and experiments in our state-of-the-art labs, which are equipped with an expansive array of tools and technologies ranging from traditional woodworking and precision metalworking to industrial robotics and XR technologies. 

    View Labs & Studios

    Practices

    Our project-based curriculum prepares students for a range of practices. We consider ‘practices’ to be both a way of thinking and a mode of working. Our graduates are versant in conventional and speculative design practices, material practices, participatory social practices, and practices in scholarship and pedagogy, among many others. We also engage in practice iteratively, in an approach in which design is framed as an act of research in the sense of rehearsal and repetition - in honing one’s craft. For example, in the context of the studio environment, this often means an iterative approach, which in turn frames design as an act of research; in the production of new knowledge through the act of designing. Students and faculty in the program are not afraid to experiment, learn from success and failure, and keep pushing forward.

    Co-ops & Careers

    Wentworth’s long tradition of cooperative education, a required component of all programs on campus, equally supports these goals by providing students with the practical experience that is increasingly important in today’s professional landscape. We take pride in the fact that our graduates are known for their career-readiness, with local and regional offices regularly employing our students for internships and permanent positions. 

    We invite you to join the thriving graduate culture at Wentworth, where we are ready to practice.

    Faculty Expertise

    Our full-time and adjunct faculty are the driving force behind the M.Arch program. The incredible breadth of experience they bring to the learning environment is a true asset to our community. Learn more about their backgrounds and their areas of teaching, research and practice.

    View Faculty Directory

    Accreditation

    The Master of Architecture is a fully accredited professional degree, and graduates of the program have completed the educational requirements to take the Architect Registration Exam (ARE). The program’s next accreditation review will take place in 2026. For general information about the accreditation of architecture programs see the website of the National Architecture Accreditation Board (NAAB)

    View Accreditation Information

    Dual Degree Program

    The School of Architecture & Design and the School of Management at Wentworth collaborate to offer a M. Arch + M.S. in Construction Management dual degree option, which which reduces the amount of time required to complete two professional degrees. This dual degree is available to all M. Arch students, regardless of track placement.

    Learn More

  • Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure

    Our M.Arch program is one of less than 30 in the country approved to offer the optional curricular track known as the Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure, or IPAL. For motivated students, IPAL offers the possibility of earning both a professional degree and professional licensure at the same time. For more information, see our IPAL page here.

    Global perspectives

    All students in the M.Arch program participate in the Global Research Studio, which is a required traveling studio that spends more than a week in one of a handful of rotating international locations.

    Thesis sequence

    All students undertake a design-based thesis project in the program’s final year, through a defined sequence of courses: Design as Research, Thesis Studio, and Thesis Seminar. Each M.Arch student produces a thesis book in the final spring semester of the program, drawing together various threads of their investigations from the two-semester thesis sequence. The thesis books are cataloged and digitized in Wentworth’s Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons.

    Graduate electives

    A rotating list of graduate electives provides students with a wide range of options for deep learning on a specific topic. Recent elective courses have included:

    Permanent elective courses:

    • Affordable Housing | Sustainable Communities
    • The Climate-Responsive Building
    • Participatory Practice
    • Fabrication Methods
    • Space, Skin, and Surface
    • Principles of Passive House Design
    • Race, Segregation and Urban Development
    • Design in the Context of Migration
    • Restorative Community Design
    • Self-Production: Collaborative Design

    Occasional elective courses:

    • Climate Futurism
    • Architecture and the Anthropocene
    • An Ecological Turn: Adaptive Self-Organizing Systems and Live Models
    • Designing the American City
    • Architects, Directors, Scenographers: Theater and the Space of Performance
    • A Sense of Space
    • Attributes of Aliveness
    • Tectonics of Robotic Manufacturing
    • Future Craft
    • Advanced Timber Design
    • From Datasets to Dataplaces
    • Architecture + AI
    • Translating AI Imagery to Reality
    • Creating Context  
    • Marketing for Design Professionals
    • Theories of Practice
    • Virtual Design + Construction
    • Effective Communication Strategies 
  • Wentworth's NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture program is highly experiential and hands-on, introducing students to the contemporary challenges of the built environment and giving them the skills needed to become leaders in a rapidly evolving profession.

    View information from the Course Catalog below for program requirements.

    Total credits for degree: 34-36 (1-year track), 70-72 (2-year track), or 106-108 (3-year track)

    Wentworth graduate students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 to be in good academic standing, to remain eligible for financial aid and merit scholarships, and to qualify for graduate fellowships. The M.Arch program is designed as a full-time, day program, and it only allows for fall semester entry.

    Master of Architecture (1-Year Track)

    Plan of Study Grid
    First Year
    Fall SemesterCredits
    ARCH9000 GLOBAL RESEARCH STUDIO 6
    ARCH9200 METHODS OF HISTORY, THEORY & CRITICISM 4
    ARCH9300 DESIGN AS RESEARCH 4
    Architecture Elective 3-4
     Credits17-18
    Spring Semester
    ARCH9500 THESIS STUDIO 6
    ARCH9600 PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES 4
    ARCH9700 THESIS SEMINAR 4
    Architecture Elective 3-4
     Credits17-18
     Total Credits34-36

    Master of Architecture (2-Year Track)

    Plan of Study Grid
    First Year
    Fall SemesterCredits
    ARCH8000 ADVANCED GRADUATE DESIGN STUDIO 01 6
    ARCH8250 PASSIVE AND ACTIVE SYSTEMS 4
    ARCH8300 APPLIED RESEARCH & DESIGN 01 4
    ARCH8400 STRUCTURES 01 4
     Credits18
    Spring Semester
    ARCH8500 ADVANCED GRADUATE DESIGN STUDIO 02 6
    ARCH8700 APPLIED RESEARCH & DESIGN 02 4
    ARCH8800 STRUCTURES 02 4
    Architecture Elective 4
     Credits18
    Summer Semester
    COOP6500 GRADUATE COOP EDUCATION 0
     Credits0
    Second Year
    Fall Semester
    ARCH9000 GLOBAL RESEARCH STUDIO 6
    ARCH9200 METHODS OF HISTORY, THEORY & CRITICISM 4
    ARCH9300 DESIGN AS RESEARCH 4
    Architecture Elective 3-4
     Credits17-18
    Spring Semester
    ARCH9500 THESIS STUDIO 6
    ARCH9600 PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES 4
    ARCH9700 THESIS SEMINAR 4
    Architecture Elective 3-4
     Credits17-18
     Total Credits70-72

    Master of Architecture (3-Year Track)

    Plan of Study Grid
    First Year
    Fall SemesterCredits
    ARCH7000 GRADUATE FOUNDATION STUDIO 01 6
    ARCH7250 GRADUATE HISTORY THEORY LECTURE 4
    ARCH7300 BUILDING MATTERS 4
    ARCH7350 2D + 3D MEDIA & PROCESSES 4
     Credits18
    Spring Semester
    ARCH7500 GRADUATE FOUNDATIONS STUDIO 02 6
    ARCH7550 GRADUATE HISTORY THEORY SEMINAR 4
    ARCH7600 ENERGY AND RESOURCES IN ARCHITECTURE 4
    Architecture Elective 4
     Credits18
    Second Year
    Fall Semester
    ARCH8000 ADVANCED GRADUATE DESIGN STUDIO 01 6
    ARCH8250 PASSIVE AND ACTIVE SYSTEMS 4
    ARCH8300 APPLIED RESEARCH & DESIGN 01 4
    ARCH8400 STRUCTURES 01 4
     Credits18
    Spring Semester
    ARCH8500 ADVANCED GRADUATE DESIGN STUDIO 02 6
    ARCH8700 APPLIED RESEARCH & DESIGN 02 4
    ARCH8800 STRUCTURES 02 4
    Architecture Elective 4
     Credits18
    Summer Semester
    COOP6500 GRADUATE COOP EDUCATION 0
     Credits0
    Third Year
    Fall Semester
    ARCH9000 GLOBAL RESEARCH STUDIO 6
    ARCH9200 METHODS OF HISTORY, THEORY & CRITICISM 4
    ARCH9300 DESIGN AS RESEARCH 4
    Architecture Elective 3-4
     Credits17-18
    Spring Semester
    ARCH9500 THESIS STUDIO 6
    ARCH9600 PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES 4
    ARCH9700 THESIS SEMINAR 4
    Architecture Elective 3-4
     Credits17-18
     Total Credits106-108

    Master of Architecture and Master of Science in Construction Management (Dual Degree)

    Plan of Study Grid
    First Year
    Fall SemesterCredits
    ARCH9000 GLOBAL RESEARCH STUDIO 6
    ARCH9200 METHODS OF HISTORY, THEORY & CRITICISM 4
    ARCH9300 DESIGN AS RESEARCH 4
    Architecture Elective 3-4
     Credits17-18
    Spring Semester
    ARCH9500 THESIS STUDIO 6
    ARCH9600 PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES 4
    ARCH9700 THESIS SEMINAR 4
    Architecture Elective 3-4
     Credits17-18
     Total Credits34-36
  • Career Outcomes

     

View M.Arch Application Requirements

Highlights

Architecture students attend the Dean's award ceremony in the CEIS lobby

Student Awards

Graduate students are considered for a number of different awards, both internal and external. Awards programs recognize students for design excellence, leadership, and scholastic performance.

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Two architecture students discuss a design pinned to the wall

Fellowships

Graduate fellowships are part-time, paid positions in which students work directly with fulltime faculty or staff members to assist them with either a defined research project as a Graduate Research Fellow or with the delivery of course content as a Graduate Teaching Fellow.

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Architectural models and a student working on design files on a laptop

Publications

Making Masters is an annual print publication produced by the M.Arch program that celebrates the work of our graduate architecture students, faculty, and larger community. 

Wentworth Design Review is a student-led, school-wide journal showcasing design projects, speculative and scholarly writings, interviews, and much more. The journal is published annually.

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