Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) Degree | Marywood University

Increase your Potential with a Master of Architecture Degree

A Master's in Architecture is intended for students who will pursue a career as a licensed architect. Most state licensing boards require a process that is administered by the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards (NCARB), including the completion of a professional, NAAB-accredited degree, as well as Architecture Experience (AXP) hours and Architect Registration Exams (AREs). The M.Arch. program has been granted for eligibility for candidacy with National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).

Marywood offers advanced standing in their MArch program for students with undergraduate degrees in Architecture (BA, BEDA, BS), Architectural Engineering, Interior Architecture (BA, BFA, BIA), and Construction Management (BSCM). For instance, Marywood alumni with the Bachelor of Interior Architecture degree may be eligible for 60 credits of advanced standing in the MArch program.

Architecture graduate students adhere to a scaffolded curriculum that prepares them for professional practice:

Design studios steadily building up to a two-semester, comprehensive thesis project

Building technology courses integrating topics in structures, environmental and building science, renewable energy, and other areas

Hybrid representation courses including hand drawing, model making, digital rendering, animation, and fabrication

History and theory courses delving into the cultural, philosophical, political, and religious traditions influence the built environment

Program electives in community design build, global urban ecologies, lighting, public design projects, and many more

Program Highlights

Student Organizations

American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), Habitat for Humanity Student Chapter (HFH), Women in Architecture and Design (WIAD), National Organization for Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS)

and more than 100+ other opportunities on campus »

Career Services

CAREER SERVICES at Marywood

NCARB

NCARB Supervisor – Elizabeth Andrzejewski ( eandrzejewski@maryu.marywood.edu)

AXP Guidelines

Innovative Environment

Marywood’s LEED Gold-certified School of Architecture building includes features like geothermal cooling, rainwater harvesting, and a green roof, putting sustainable principles into practice every day.

Our students collaborate across disciplines with peers in Construction Management, Interior Architecture, and Virtual Architecture, gaining real-world perspectives from the start. Through the Center for Urban Studies, they also engage in projects that connect design with social change.

Recent awards include:

First Prize – Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, Attached Housing Division (2021)
Second Prize – Solar Decathlon Design Challenge, Retrofit Housing Division (2023)
Third Place – Workplace Wellness Category, AISC/ACSA Steel Competition (2021)

Ranked Among the Best

Marywood is ranked #14 Best Value School by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings for 2026, making Marywood a great, centrally located option for students in Northeastern Pennsylvania who want to stay closer to home.

About the Architecture Program

Admission Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university
“B” average during undergraduate study or demonstrated potential for graduate work
Official transcripts from all previously attended institutions
Completed Application: https://admissions.marywood.edu/apply/

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Scholarships

Morris K. Udall Scholarship

The Udall Foundation seeks future leaders across a wide spectrum of environmental fields, including policy, engineering, science, education, urban planning and renewal, business, health, justice, and economics. The Foundation also seeks future Native American and Alaska Native leaders in public and community health care, tribal government, and public policy affecting Native American communities, including land and resource management, economic development, and education.

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Courses & Curriculum

Total of 101 credits required including:

Architecture curriculum
Program Electives

The Architecture curriculum is scaffolded by four curricular sequences listed below. Please email the MUSOA Director at architecture@marywood.edu for a recommended, semester-by-semester curriculum tracker outlining the 3.5-year program.

Studio Sequence

IARC 560A	Graduate Studio Observation I	3
IARC 560B	Graduate Studio Observation II	3
IARC 610A	Interior Architecture Studio Vii	6
IARC 620A	Int Architecture Studio VIII	6
IARC 611	Grad Studio I: Frml & Sptl Attds of Adap	6
IARC 621	Grad Studio Ii: Urbn/Cmmnty Cntxts Adptv	6
IARC 510	Design Thesis I	6
IARC 520	Design Thesis II	6

Representation Sequence

IARC 503L	Hybrid Representation Lab III	2
IARC 515	Representation in Adap Reuse of Interior	3
IARC 518	Advanced Hybrid Craft	3

Technology Sequence

ARCH 517	Building Technologies I	3
ARCH 527	Building Technologies II	3
ARCH 537	Building Technologies III	3
ARCH 547	Building Technologies IV	3
ARCH 557	Building Technologies V	3

History + Theory Sequence

IARC 511	Principles of Adaptive Reuse	3
IARC 517	Strategies/Theories of Adaptive Reuse	3
ARCH 528	Hist&Theory of Arch & Int. Arch I	3
ARCH 618	Hist&Theory of Arch & Int. Arch II	3
ARCH 628	Hist&Theory of Arch & Int. Arch III	3

Additional Courses

IARC 513	Thesis Research	3
IARC 525	Thesis Documentation & Publication	3
ARCH 562	Professional Practice Practicum	3

* Program Electives shall be selected from Interior Architecture, Architecture, Virtual Architecture, Construction Management, and other courses approved by the MU SOA Director. Program Electives shall not be otherwise required courses in the Master of Interior Architecture degree program.

Advanced Standing

Advanced standing in this 101-credit degree program is available to students who have completed a baccalaureate degree in Architecture, Construction Management, Engineering, Interior Architecture, or Interior Design from an ACCE-, CIDA-, NAAB-, or NASAD- accredited undergraduate program. A transcript and portfolio review will be conducted for all applicants who are seeking advanced standing. Since this review is required, only an advanced standing option for applicants who have a B.E.D.A., B.I.A., or B.V.A. from Marywood, where course content requirements are guaranteed, will be outlined in the catalog.

M.Arch. Program Requirements (2-year professional degree) Advanced Standing Option - 60 credits - recommended sequence

Students holding a Bachelor of Interior Architecture, Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture, or Bachelor of Virtual Architecture from Marywood University will receive up to 41 credits of advanced standing for required course content that they have successfully completed during their undergraduate degree program.

Facilities & Technology

Center for Architectural Studies

In some cases, where students learn can be as important as what they learn. Where it can be a modern urban center or a historic city like Florence, or it can be a building so innovative in its design that it becomes a partner in the educational experience. Such is the case with Marywood’s Center for Architectural Studies, which houses the School of Architecture.

The School of Architecture is a state-of-the-art example of sustainable design. It's a spacious, adaptive re-use of Marywood's former gymnasium and natatorium. It features:

Two levels of open studios
Wood and metal shops
Digital Fabrication Lab
Plaster-casting room
Printers and plotters
Construction Materials Lab
Reference library

A two-story commons under a continuous skylight harvests abundant natural light throughout the day and serves as the building's "agora" - an open, shared, central space for educational exchanges among students and faculty. This is an ideal place for group discussions, debates, displays, and project critiques.

Entrance to the building with student work displayed

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School of Architecture Classrooms

Every student is provided an individual work space with a drawing board, personal storage area, pin-up wall, and space for a laptop.

It features:

Two levels of studio space
Fully-equipped woodshop
Plaster-casting room
Printers and plotters
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) lab
Student lounge
Reference library

Architecture students working in one of the studios

work-in-progress exhibition family weekend _23_2.jpg

Student work displayed as a gallery in one of the studios

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Cloud Room

The Cloud Room (CAS 251) is located on the second level of the Center for Architectural Studies, above the lobby. Including only chairs without desks, it is not considered a traditional classroom space. The Cloud Room is used by the School of Architecture as a meeting space and as a location for architecture lectures and guest speakers.

Cloud room black and white exhibit

Student work displayed as gallery

cloud room student presentation with teacher

Class presentation

Interior Architecture Student Work

From #DayOne, Marywood is here for you each step of the way.

Centers of Excellence

Marywood University hosts three academic Centers of Excellence on campus; The Center for Law, Justice and Policy, The Center for Urban Studies, and The Mother Theresa Maxis, IHM Center. Each center provides students with the tools and resources to excel in their academic endeavors, fostering a dynamic environment where they can engage deeply with their respective fields of study and make meaningful contributions to their communities and beyond.

Accreditation

Marywood University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSHE).

"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 term, an eight-year term with conditions, or a three-year term of initial accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established education standards.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a non-accredited undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the non-accredited degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree."

Marywood University School of Architecture offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:

Bachelor of Architecture (150 credits)

Master of Architecture (101 credits) – approved to host Initial Candidacy Visit in Fall 2026

The next continuing accreditation visit for the Bachelor of Architecture program will be in 2027.

2026 NAAB Special Report / 2020 NAAB Conditions / 2020 NAAB Procedures

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Architecture (M.Arch)

Increase your Potential with a Master of Architecture Degree

Program at a glance

Program Highlights

Student Organizations

Innovative Environment

Ranked Among the Best

Take Your Next Steps

About the Architecture Program

Admission Requirements

Scholarships

Tuition

Courses & Curriculum

Studio Sequence

Representation Sequence

Technology Sequence

History + Theory Sequence

Additional Courses

Advanced Standing

M.Arch. Program Requirements (2-year professional degree) Advanced Standing Option - 60 credits - recommended sequence

Facilities & Technology

Center for Architectural Studies

School of Architecture Classrooms

Cloud Room

Faculty

Dr. Jodi L La Coe

Arian Korkuti

Dr. Liyang Ding

Scott D Allen

Dr. Elizabeth M Andrzejewski

Catherine M Armezzani

Alexander J Belavitz

Joshua David Berman

Amy L Brakefield

Charles J Breig

Tess R Brown

Dr. Miguel Angel Calvo-Salve

Matthew Chorba

Carmen J Ciampi

Antonio Felice Cicco

Emily Elizabeth Fischetti

Michael A Fusco

Negar Goljan

Thomas Alexander Gongliewski

Kimberley Ann Hagan

Christian T Hoffer

Gerard Jacquinot

Michael Lawson

Joseph Thomas Leone

Lincoln L Lewis

William R Long

Christopher J Loofs

Maria N MacDonald

Joseph R Marcellus

Nicolas A Mendez

Scott S Napkora

Blake Charles Nickel

Michelle L Pannone

Mario Joseph Paoli

Dr. Arturo Pavani

Megan M Pavlowski

Franco Pisani

Gustavo Alfredo PulidoDelCastillo

Derrick P Ricci-Riner

Lucia J Riggi-Murray

Sean M Ritter

Renee Lynn Rozaieski

Ryan Scavnicky

Kerry P Schimelfenig

Jordan M Slater

Lewis Strunk

James J Sullivan

David M Truitt

Philip Martin Vigoda

Kristen Anne Wolfe

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