The Bachelor of Arts in Architecture (B.A.A.) is a pre-professional degree that prepares students for admittance to a two-year graduate program in architecture, or for a career in related design fields, or related professions associated with the built environment. The overall intent of the B.A.A. degree program is to provide a firm grounding in the essential ideas, principles, theories and technologies that underlie the built environment. The design studio sequence, the core of the program, is where all the elements of the design process come together in exercises that build increasing skill and sophistication in the student designer.
The Design Studies concentration is for students that might choose to pursue other design fields or professions related to the built environment, such as interior design, urban design, industrial design, digital media, digital fabrication, energy modeling, construction management, real estate development, and other fields. A program that prepares individuals for the independent professional practice of architecture and to conduct research in various aspects of the field. Includes instruction in architectural design, history, and theory, building structures and environmental systems, project and site planning, construction, professional responsibilities and standards, and related cultural, social, economic, and environmental issues.