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Program ranking · CIP 04.02 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Architecture

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Architecture (CIP 04.02) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

$76,969
Highest architecture earnings
50
Colleges ranked
$45,710
#50 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $45,710 median earnings for Architecture bachelor's (CIP 04.02) completers. California State Polytechnic University-Pomona leads at $76,969.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$76,969
#1 - California State Polytechnic
$45,710
#50 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
126
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Top 15 architecture programs by median completer earnings

Architecture bachelor's (CIP 04.02) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Architecture pay clusters in major metros and selective design schools - licensure paths and studio culture vary by campus even when medians look similar.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 50

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona CA $76,969 $28,040 107
2 The University of Texas at Austin TX $76,808 $21,000 65
3 University of California-Berkeley CA $76,679 $15,000 113
4 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $76,181 $30,440 50
5 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute NY $75,551 $31,000 57
6 Drexel University PA $72,915 $31,000 28
7 University of Nevada-Las Vegas NV $72,468 $22,278 26
8 Auburn University AL $72,420 $28,000 62
9 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA $71,292 $28,192 41
10 Kennesaw State University GA $70,752 $31,000 48
11 University of Houston TX $70,616 $26,125 95
12 University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $70,213 $20,784 73
13 Drury University MO $70,134 $31,000 30
14 Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University FL $69,874 $26,000 38
15 The Catholic University of America DC $69,838 $26,712 59
16 Mississippi State University MS $69,699 $31,000 26
17 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $69,515 $19,748 68
18 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College LA $69,029 $26,500 40
19 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville TN $68,765 $31,000 72
20 University of Maryland-College Park MD $68,527 $20,913 124
21 University of Arkansas AR $67,955 $26,250 60
22 University of Florida FL $67,399 $18,953 92
23 University of North Carolina at Charlotte NC $67,204 $26,000 37
24 Marywood University PA $67,178 $31,000 34
25 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $66,131 $25,500 75
26 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus OH $65,449 $22,600 88
27 North Dakota State University-Main Campus ND $65,148 $26,875 58
28 Roger Williams University RI $65,092 $27,000 63
29 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $65,015 $15,000 52
30 University of Central Florida FL $64,826 $10,750 39
31 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $64,643 $17,781 90
32 Clemson University SC $63,892 $21,500 86
33 Texas Tech University TX $63,871 $20,000 117
34 Judson University IL $63,846 $26,442 27
35 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee WI $62,803 $24,237 82
36 University of Nebraska-Lincoln NE $62,700 $25,260 45
37 Prairie View A & M University TX $62,540 $30,000 37
38 University of Kentucky KY $62,383 $20,815 57
39 Portland State University OR $62,349 $25,000 57
40 The University of Texas at Arlington TX $62,345 $23,535 80
41 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $62,246 $20,412 100
42 University at Buffalo NY $61,525 $22,536 70
43 Keene State College NH $61,304 $26,860 38
44 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $60,297 $20,011 70
45 Morgan State University MD $59,586 $27,063 39
46 Kent State University at Kent OH $59,299 $25,250 104
47 The University of Texas at San Antonio TX $57,778 $22,000 69
48 University of Illinois Chicago IL $56,975 $23,080 56
49 University of New Mexico-Main Campus NM $48,424 - 63
50 Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico-Ponce PR $45,710 $31,000 27

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Architecture (CIP 04.02) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Architecture (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Architecture (CIP 04.02) bachelor's programs only - landscape architecture (CIP 04.06), interior architecture (CIP 04.05), and naval architecture (CIP 14.22) are ranked separately when demand warrants.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.