RISD students are highly diverse, drawn from throughout the world and visually and culturally literate. They are open-minded, with few of the pretensions or unfounded demands sometimes found in students at other schools. It is important to understand that the Department of Architecture integrates graduate students from diverse backgrounds and undergraduate students with strong visual training in studio courses, comingling visual literacy, energy and hunger for experimentation with intellectual discipline and maturity. The result is quite powerful for both sets of students.

Yes. We understand architecture as part of a dynamic system in constant homeostasis, not as an act of resistance to the forces of nature. This approach is evident in the way design is approached – using an organic, iterative model – and in the curriculum through such initiatives as the Solar Decathlon, studios on wood and bamboo as sustainable resources, and a series of projects in Mexico, Costa Rica and Africa. Course offerings address student and faculty interest in and commitment to environmentally cautious, architecturally stunning work.

Yes, by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). In the United States, most state 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 U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a 6-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.

All accredited schools of architecture in the US (and Canada) offer degrees that are compatible with professional licensing requirements. This is as true of a university-based program as it is of an arts-based program like RISD's. In other words, the MArch degree carries the same value and licensing opportunities whether you attend RISD or one of the more traditional university-based schools of architecture.

Master’s degree programs may consist of a preprofessional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

We look for signs of potential for architectural studies over prior experience or knowledge. Architectural potential can be defined through faculties of spatial cognition, material reasoning, imagination, sensibility, critical thinking, analytical thinking and abstraction. These can be made evident through any combination of the following: freehand drawing from life, prior design work, fabrication, photography, other studio artwork and even creative writing. We do not discourage students who have no background in architectural studies from applying.