Virginia Tech ranks fourth nationally among America’s architecture schools
Virginia Tech’s undergraduate architecture program is ranked fourth in the nation among architecture schools for 2015 in a national survey conducted by DesignIntelligence.
Each year, DesignIntelligence conducts survey research on behalf of the Greenway Group, sponsors of the Design Futures Council, and publishes the resulting architecture and design school rankings. It is the only national college ranking survey focused exclusively on design.
Rankings are based on the responses of 1,426 U.S. firms and organizations whose professional practice leaders have direct experience with the performance of recent architecture and design graduates. Survey participants, who are drawn from the Greenway Group database of leading firms throughout the United States, must verify that they are currently responsible for hiring or supervising design professionals in each of the design fields for which they respond: architecture, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture.
Virginia Tech’s undergraduate architecture program has ranked in the top five for seven of the last eight years.
“These rankings legitimize the architecture program’s commitment to training students who will become whole-system thinkers capable of critically responding to complex design issues," said Henri de Hahn, director of the School of Architecture + Design. "We are proud that our peers hold us in high esteem. Our pedagogical strength remains in the education of architects, and we are proud that our graduates contribute to today’s professional responsibilities with authority, respect, and passion.”
The architecture program is ranked second among universities in the south, and for the second year in a row, the program also ranked among the top in the nation for educating students on construction methods and materials.
The November 2014 issue of Architectural Record magazine reported the architecture rankings and also noted that employment prospects for graduates are promising, citing the Design Futures Council reporting zero unemployment in architecture and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating a 17 percent growth rate for architecture between now and 2022.
The Bachelor of Architecture degree in the School of Architecture + Design takes five years to complete, and in addition to studies in design theory and process — covering building design as an interactive investigation of human factors, environmental forces, and technology — the students benefit from several opportunities to participate in hands-on experiences, such as the award-winning design/buildLAB, study abroad opportunities including the Steger Center for International Scholarship in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, Chicago Studio, and the opportunity to spend their fourth and/or fifth years in Alexandria, Virginia, at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center.
