Rankings by major · 124 schools scored

Best colleges for architecture

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for architecture. The score blends how graduates in the major do four years out against the national norm for the same major, the strength of the student body, how many undergraduate courses the department lists, and the size of the program. Small programs (under five graduates a year) are capped. 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top architecture schools: University of Notre Dame, Rice University, Washington University in St. Louis.

Top 100 colleges for architecture
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	95	Standout	54	2.5%	1.24×	11%
1	Rice University Houston, TX	95	Standout	36	3.5%	–	8%
3	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	93	Standout	42	2.3%	–	12%
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	91	Standout	20	1.8%	–	5%
5	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	90	Standout	71	3.4%	–	14%
6	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	89	Standout	174	3.2%	1.06×	10%
7	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	87	Standout	103	2.7%	1.03×	9%
7	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	87	Standout	33	2%	1.10×	11%
7	Yale University New Haven, CT	87	Standout	18	1.3%	–	5%
10	University of Washington Seattle, WA	86	Standout	201	2.3%	1.21×	39%
11	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	84	Standout	98	2.2%	1.05×	17%
11	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	84	Standout	57	3.6%	1.13×	63%
13	Brown University Providence, RI	83	Standout	16	1%	–	5%
14	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	82	Standout	53	1.8%	1.13×	19%
14	Columbia University New York, NY	82	Standout	17	0.8%	–	5%
16	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	81	Standout	168	4.9%	1.09×	46%
16	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	81	Standout	143	1.6%	1.15×	11%
18	Northeastern University Boston, MA	80	Standout	53	1.2%	1.11×	5%
19	Hobart and William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY	79	Strong	28	6%	1.10×	64%
20	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	77	Strong	55	1.4%	1.07×	13%
20	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	77	Strong	47	0.5%	1.15×	27%
20	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	77	Strong	43	5.6%	1.04×	83%
20	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	77	Strong	16	1.3%	–	29%
24	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	76	Strong	57	0.9%	1.19×	42%
25	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	74	Strong	150	2.1%	1.12×	55%
25	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	74	Strong	135	2.2%	1.28×	60%
25	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	74	Strong	132	1.6%	1.02×	45%
28	Auburn University Auburn, AL	72	Strong	118	2.1%	1.10×	46%
28	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	72	Strong	68	0.8%	0.97×	16%
30	Boston University Boston, MA	71	Strong	16	0.3%	–	13%
31	University of Nebraska – Lincoln Lincoln, NE	70	Strong	110	2.6%	1.03×	87%
31	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	70	Strong	72	0.7%	1.13×	61%
33	University of Georgia Athens, GA	69	Strong	41	0.5%	1.13×	38%
34	Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA	68	Strong	76	6.8%	0.98×	81%
34	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	68	Strong	17	0.4%	–	59%
36	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	67	Strong	129	1.9%	1.08×	78%
36	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	67	Strong	89	14.2%	1.02×	55%
36	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	67	Strong	18	0.2%	–	9%
39	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	66	Strong	102	2.4%	1.02×	93%
39	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	66	Strong	21	1.5%	–	54%
41	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	65	Strong	129	1.7%	1.14×	86%
41	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	65	Strong	102	1.1%	1.01×	20%
41	University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN	65	Strong	102	1.9%	1.04×	42%
41	Howard University Washington, DC	65	Strong	29	2.2%	–	41%
45	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	64	Solid	112	1.5%	0.93×	80%
45	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	64	Solid	55	0.6%	1.01×	58%
45	The New School New York, NY	64	Solid	35	2.2%	–	63%
45	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	64	Solid	24	0.3%	0.96×	45%
49	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	63	Solid	154	1.2%	1.00×	52%
49	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	63	Solid	52	0.6%	–	29%
49	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	63	Solid	46	1.3%	1.09×	70%
52	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	62	Solid	79	4.2%	0.99×	65%
53	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	61	Solid	87	1%	0.96×	42%
53	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	61	Solid	51	1.1%	1.05×	77%
53	University of Delaware Newark, DE	61	Solid	15	0.3%	–	71%
56	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	60	Solid	51	0.9%	1.02×	87%
56	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	60	Solid	23	1.5%	–	62%
56	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	60	Solid	14	0.5%	–	5%
56	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	60	Solid	12	1.8%	–	11%
56	Barnard College New York, NY	60	Solid	11	1.5%	–	9%
56	Amherst College Amherst, MA	60	Solid	10	2%	–	9%
56	Smith College Northampton, MA	60	Solid	9	1.5%	–	21%
56	Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA	60	Solid	8	1.4%	–	36%
56	Tufts University Medford, MA	60	Solid	8	0.5%	–	11%
56	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	60	Solid	8	0.5%	–	6%
56	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA	60	Solid	8	1.4%	–	14%
56	Connecticut College New London, CT	60	Solid	7	1.7%	–	37%
56	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	60	Solid	6	0.5%	–	4%
69	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	59	Solid	129	2.5%	0.90×	81%
69	Clemson University Clemson, SC	59	Solid	93	1.8%	0.96×	38%
71	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR	58	Solid	136	2.7%	1.02×	74%
71	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	58	Solid	109	1%	0.87×	51%
71	CUNY–City College New York, NY	58	Solid	52	2.2%	–	60%
71	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	58	Solid	10	0.2%	–	54%
75	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS	57	Solid	120	2.8%	1.03×	78%
76	University of Houston Houston, TX	56	Solid	120	1.5%	1.06×	74%
76	University of Oregon Eugene, OR	56	Solid	95	2.4%	0.97×	88%
76	Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO	56	Solid	66	1.3%	1.03×	89%
76	Stony Brook University–SUNY Stony Brook, NY	56	Solid	19	0.4%	–	49%
76	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	56	Solid	18	0.2%	1.01×	50%
81	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY	55	Solid	52	1%	0.95×	93%
81	Indiana University–Bloomington Bloomington, IN	55	Solid	29	0.4%	–	78%
83	New York Institute of Technology Old Westbury, NY	53	Solid	100	14.2%	1.00×	81%
84	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	52	Solid	102	2.1%	0.99×	73%
84	Washington State University Pullman, WA	52	Solid	55	0.9%	–	86%
86	University of Nevada–Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV	51	Solid	69	1.5%	1.08×	96%
86	Chatham University Pittsburgh, PA	51	Solid	21	8%	–	62%
88	Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, IA	50	Solid	102	1.6%	0.92×	89%
88	North Dakota State University Fargo, ND	50	Solid	62	2.7%	0.97×	95%
88	Florida A&M University Tallahassee, FL	50	Solid	40	2.6%	1.04×	21%
91	Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK	49	Solid	49	1%	1.04×	75%
91	University of Detroit Mercy Detroit, MI	49	Solid	37	5.8%	0.94×	75%
93	University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	48	Solid	86	1.7%	0.85×	77%
93	Temple University Philadelphia, PA	48	Solid	70	1.2%	0.95×	86%
93	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI	48	Solid	27	0.8%	1.03×	87%
96	University of Colorado Denver Denver, CO	47	Solid	86	3.2%	0.94×	75%
96	University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM	47	Solid	69	2%	0.72×	95%
96	University of Idaho Moscow, ID	47	Solid	54	3.4%	0.93×	76%
99	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	46	Solid	230	1.5%	0.94×	88%
99	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX	46	Solid	157	2.3%	0.96×	73%

24 more schools are on the full architecture ranking.

How this ranking works

Updated October 13, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.

To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for architecture," updated October 13, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/architecture. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.

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Best colleges for architecture

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