DesignIntelligence has released their 2015 rankings of the Best US Architecture Schools for both undergraduate and graduate programs. Over 1,400 professional practice organizations were surveyed and asked to respond to the question: “In your firm’s hiring experience in the past five years, which of the following schools are best preparing students for success in the profession?” In addition, more than 3,800 architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and industrial design students were also surveyed about their education, in data presented separately from the rankings.
However, perhaps more enlightening than the ranking itself are the firms' responses to several additional issues raised in the report. For example, 54.6% of the firms surveyed selected sustainability and climate change as the professions’ biggest concern, while maintaining design quality was a close second. Firms also provided insights on the most important qualities of new graduates entering the workplace, with an overwhelming 70.1% selecting attitude/personality as the most important attribute.
Read on after the break for the Top 10 undergraduate and graduate programs.
BEST UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS
- 1. Cornell University
- 2. California Polytechnic State Univ., San Luis Obispo
- 3. Rice University
- 4. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- 5. Syracuse University
- 6. University of Texas at Austin
- 7. Rhode Island School of Design
- 8. Southern California Inst. of Architecture
- 9. Pratt Institute
- 10. University of Southern California
BEST GRADUATE SCHOOLS
- 1. Harvard University
- 2. Columbia University
- 3. Yale University
- 4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- 5. Cornell University
- 6. University of Michigan
- 7. Rice University
- 7. University of Pennsylvania
- 9. University of Virginia
- 10. University of California, Berkeley
- 10. Washington University in St. Louis
The full report, which includes the top 20 graduate and undergraduate programs as well as additional analysis and insight, is available from DesignIntelligence.
