Best Architect programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment
Plan and design structures, such as private residences, office buildings, theaters, factories, and other structural.
10 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 114 people a year. The job pays a median of $117,330 in Massachusetts across about 4,590 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Massachusetts page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Architecturemain feeder CIP 04.0201In Massachusetts → | 57 | 50.0% | 6 | $47,542 | $27,000 |
| 2 | CIP 04.0801In Massachusetts → | 53 | 46.5% | 3 | $30,189 | $25,000 |
| 3 | Architectural Designmain feeder CIP 04.0202In Massachusetts → | 2 | 1.8% | 1 | $47,542 | $27,000 |
| 4 | CIP 04.0401In Massachusetts → | 2 | 1.8% | 1 | $40,176 | $22,844 |
Top 10 schools in Massachusetts
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 10 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Architectural History and Criticism, General | — | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Architecture | — | 96% | $11,666 | 5% |
| 3 | Tufts University Medford, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Architecture | — | 94% | $23,570 | 11% |
| 4 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Architectural History and Criticism, General | — | 91% | $18,925 | 5% |
| 5 | Wellesley College Wellesley, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Architecture | — | 92% | $19,292 | 14% |
| 6 | Amherst College Amherst, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Architectural History and Criticism, General | — | 94% | $16,081 | 9% |
| 7 | Boston Architectural College Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Architecture | $55,079 | 32% | $41,647 | — |
| 8 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Architecture | — | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 9 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Architectural Design | — | 83% | — | 60% |
| 10 | Hampshire College Amherst, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Architecture | — | 54% | $22,968 | 75% |
All 10 schools in Massachusetts
Every school in Massachusetts with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 1 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| Tufts University | Medford | Private not-for-profit | 18 | 1 |
| Northeastern University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 16 | 2 |
| Wellesley College | Wellesley | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| Amherst College | Amherst | Private not-for-profit | 7 | 1 |
| Boston Architectural College | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Harvard University | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
| University of Massachusetts - Amherst | Amherst | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Hampshire College | Amherst | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What architects earn in Massachusetts
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $99,280. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Massachusetts employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Massachusetts
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Architects page.
How to become a Architect
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Massachusetts
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Architects4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 04.0201Architecture
- 04.0202Architectural Design
- 04.0401Environmental Design/Architecture
- 04.0801Architectural History and Criticism, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing architects programs in Massachusetts.
What degree do you need to become an Architect?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Architecture, which awarded 57 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 50.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Architect?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Architecture, Architectural History, Environmental Design. Together they graduate about 114 people a year in Massachusetts.
How much do architects earn in Massachusetts?+
The median is $117,330 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.2% above the U.S. median of $99,280. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for architects growing?+
BLS projects a +3.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 7,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+
10 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do architects work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Planner, Architect, Design Architect, Project Architect among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-1011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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