Degrees Offered

The School of Architecture and Design offers degrees through three departments: Architecture, Digital Art and Design, and Interior Design.

Several architecture degrees are offered: a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Technology (B.S.), a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.), a Master of Architecture (M.Arch.), and Master of Science in Architecture (M.S.) programs in Computational Technologies, Health and Design, or Urban Design (M.S.).

In Digital Art and Design, five degrees are offered, as well as one minor: Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Digital Arts and in Graphic Design; a Master of Fine Arts degree in Digital Art and Design, with concentrations in Fine Arts and Technology or Graphic Design; a Master of Arts in UX/UI Design and Development; and a minor in Graphic Design.

The Interior Design department offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design (B.F.A.). Additionally, it offers a track within the B.F.A. leading to acceptance into the School of Management’s Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program with a specialization of Design Management.

The B.Arch. is recognized as a first professional degree and is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design (B.F.A.) is a professional degree accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. The M.Arch. is recognized as a first professional degree and has candidacy accreditation status with the NAAB.

About the School of Architecture and Design

Architecture has the functional task of creating built environments for human activity. As an expression of human values, it must address the interrelated physical, social, political, economic, and cultural issues of our time. The curriculum reflects this range of inquiry. Design is an intellectual enterprise and an art form. It requires the integration of liberal ambition and the technical expertise. Pedagogically, the design studio sequence provides a project-based, experiential learning environment that allows students to apply knowledge from other areas of the curriculum. The school maintains that the emphasis on design and practicum-based learning within the curriculum prepares students for effective participation in the profession and for rendering service to the public. Students define their own goals and career paths based on the knowledge acquired in the classroom and tested through the varied projects in the design studio, technology sequence, and other project-based courses in the program.

The School of Architecture and Design supports professionalism and excellence in its programs, based on its focus on research and design pedagogy. New York Institute of Technology is an ideal place to foster innovation and to advance discovery. This is consistent with the vision for New York Tech to be a place where students learn to become critical and creative thinkers, combining the mindset of critical humanists with the design thinking of engineers and artists.

Rapidly advancing technology is transforming the world around us in ways that are seen and unseen, many that are beyond the limits of our imagination. By encouraging confrontations between ethical judgement, critical thinking and ever more powerful tools of design and production, we seek to empower our students to take ownership over driving their careers and the profession. By enhancing student and faculty research opportunities, we hope to generate new pedagogical models.

The development of interdisciplinary fields of study, supported by collaborations with other units, departments, and programs at the university, will prepare students for leadership roles, and to participate in the rapid transformations occurring in academia and the profession, particularly with respect to the increasingly global issues of natural and built environments. Technology-based curricula with interdisciplinary courses offer strong quality and unique educational experiences fostering environmental awareness, sustainable solutions, and social responsibility. The B.Arch. and B.S.A.T. curricula are committed to interdisciplinary fields of study. The curriculum is organized so that the third year of study offers a variety of topical specializations with access to a broad range of available electives, including ones outside of the School of Architecture and Design.

Interior design as an art and a profession has greatly changed. In the past, a career in interior design was understood primarily as the act of decorating an existing space. It has evolved into a profession that is far broader and encompassing. Today’s interior designers are trained to enhance the quality of working and living environments. This includes aesthetics in addition to functionality, efficiency, and safety. Many interior designers today are part of larger design teams including architects, engineers, consultants, contractors, and others working in tandem to create exciting environments. Their work professionally allies and interrelates with architecture and architectural technology.

In digital art and design we enable creativity and discovery and help students become visual artists and communication designers, storytellers, and entrepreneurs. Through curricular innovation, the use of cutting edge technologies and under the guidance of accomplished faculty, students can explore new territories, rise above disciplinary boundaries, and become the thinkers and makers of the next generations.

The integration of coursework between the interior design program and the architecture program at the School of Architecture and Design facilitates a collaboration between interior design and architecture students that will serve graduates well when they enter the workplace. All undergraduate students in the School of Architecture and Design are required to complete two semesters of design fundamentals (AAID 101 and AAID 102 or DSGN 102), two semesters of visualization (AAID 140 and 240), and one semester of history and theory (AAID 160), prior to advancing in their respective discipline-related design studio sequences.