Master of Architecture (M.Arch) and Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP)

3 Years On Campus Dual-masters Program

Georgia Institute of Technology

Program Overview

The Dual Master of Architecture (M.Arch) and Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) at the Georgia Institute of Technology is designed for students who want to work directly in city building by combining professional architectural design with urban and regional planning. The program brings together architecture, urban design, development, planning policy, economics, and environmental considerations, preparing graduates to address complex urban challenges across architectural firms, planning agencies, consulting organizations, and institutions.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: Students establish the architectural and planning foundations needed for interdisciplinary city-building work, combining architecture studios with planning theory, methods, and urban analysis. Key architecture coursework includes ARCH 6028 – Core Studio 1, ARCH 6229 – Construction Technology 1, and ARCH 6531 – Environmental Systems 1, while the dual curriculum connects these design skills with urban history, planning processes, and development issues.

Year 2: Students move into more advanced architectural design and planning practice, exploring how buildings, urban form, development economics, and public policy interact. Courses such as ARCH 6029 – Core Studio 2, ARCH 6047 – Advanced Architecture Studio 1, and ARCH 7151 – History of Urban Form build design and urban-analysis capabilities, complemented by MCRP specialization coursework in areas such as urban design, transportation planning, land use, housing, or economic development.

Year 3: The program emphasizes integrated urban design, professional practice, and the performance of design interventions against economic, social, and environmental objectives. Students undertake advanced design studios and planning work while developing strategies that can be implemented through professional practice, with the dual curriculum specifically emphasizing urban history and design theory, economics and development methods, process and methods, and design interventions.

Final Semester: Students consolidate the requirements of both professional degrees and complete advanced architectural and planning work that demonstrates their ability to address urban-scale problems. Depending on the student's advanced standing and selected planning specialization, the exact sequence and total time can vary; Georgia Tech's current dual-degree page confirms that both degrees must be completed before either degree is awarded.

Focus areas: Urban design, architectural design, city and regional planning, urban history and design theory, economics and development, planning processes and methods, urban development, land use, transportation, housing and community development, environmental and health planning, global development, and evaluation of economic, social, and environmental outcomes.

Learning outcomes: Students develop the ability to integrate architectural design with planning processes, analyze urban and regional conditions, understand development economics and policy, formulate implementable planning strategies, and evaluate design interventions according to economic, social, and environmental objectives.

Professional alignment (accreditation): The M.Arch component is fully accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), while the MCRP component is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) through December 31, 2031. This gives the dual program professional accreditation coverage across both architecture and city and regional planning.

Reputation (employability rankings): Georgia Tech's School of Architecture reports that its architecture program was ranked #18 globally and #5 among U.S. universities in the 2025 QS World Rankings. Georgia Tech's School of City and Regional Planning also reports that its MCRP was ranked #10 nationally by Planetizen on its current academics page, while the school's 2023 announcement reported a #6 national Planetizen ranking.

Professional outcomes: Georgia Tech reports that 88% of MCRP graduates from the 2024 graduating class obtained professional planning, planning-related, or other positions within 12 months of graduation, while 90% of graduates from the 2021 class who took the AICP exam within three years passed it.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

The M.Arch/MCRP dual degree at Georgia Tech is built around the intersection of architecture, urban design, and city planning, giving students opportunities to apply both design and planning methods to complex urban issues. The curriculum specifically uses design studios to explore architectural, urban design, and development problems, while Georgia Tech’s studios, research laboratories, and fabrication facilities provide spaces where students can move from digital concepts to physical prototypes and tested building systems. Students can develop practical skills through collaborative studio work, digital design, fabrication, computational methods, and research activities, supported by specialized facilities across the School of Architecture. Key opportunities include:

Urban Design Studios: The dual curriculum uses design studios to investigate architectural, urban design, and development issues while connecting theory, professional methods, and practice.
Collaborative Learning: The dual degree brings architecture and city planning together around urban design, with students working across the two disciplines to address urban development, economic, social, and environmental objectives.
Digital Fabrication Lab: Students can participate in studios, electives, and research projects using a facility dedicated to full-scale building prototypes and mock-ups. The lab includes 3-axis and 5-axis CNC routers, a CNC waterjet, Kuka robotic equipment, laser cutters, CNC foam cutting, CNC metals milling, and manual fabrication equipment.
Design-to-Making: The Digital Fabrication Lab includes a structures and materials testing lab, concrete casting lab, outdoor testing areas, an 18-seat computer lab, and a 16-seat studio, allowing design and fabrication activities to take place within the same facility.
Digital & Computational Design: Georgia Tech's School of Architecture provides opportunities to engage with parametric modeling, robotics, automated fabrication, BIM-related workflows, and emerging digital design technologies through its design technology and fabrication resources.
Spatial Futures Lab: Students can encounter projects combining mixed reality, augmented reality, drones, computer vision, and robotic systems and fabrication, with the lab embedded within the Digital Fabrication Lab.
Digital Building Lab: This research center connects industry and academic research around technologies for designing, building, and operating buildings, cities, and infrastructure, with research tracks covering industry data standards, practice automation, collaboration, and connectivity.
Sustainable Urban Systems Lab: The lab develops tools and methodologies for assessing the performance of buildings and cities and leads a Vertically Integrated Project involving students from different academic levels and engineering disciplines.
Shape Computation Lab: Students interested in computational design can access research exploring how shape can be implemented through new software technologies to support creative design processes.
High Performance Building Lab: Georgia Tech provides a dedicated research environment focused on building performance, complementing the School's broader work in design technology, building systems, and urban performance.
Architecture & Planning Studios: The Hinman Research Building houses graduate design studios, jury spaces, a computer lab, and Design Computation and Building Technology research laboratories, while Architecture West provides large design studios and additional teaching spaces.
Fabrication & Model-Making: Students have access to a wood shop, metal shop, laser cutters, 3D printing services, plasma cutting, and other fabrication resources, supporting the development of physical models and prototypes.
Architecture Library: Georgia Tech provides architecture-related library resources supporting research across architecture, city and regional planning, construction, industrial design, and fine arts, alongside the School's wider research and digital resources.

Progression & Future Opportunities

The Dual Master of Architecture (M.Arch) and Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) prepares graduates to work across architecture, urban design, planning, development, and city-building, with the curriculum specifically designed for planning agencies, consultants, institutions, and architectural firms. The combination of architectural design and city/regional planning provides a pathway into roles that require both design expertise and an understanding of urban development, policy, economics, and implementation.

Typical career roles: Architect, Urban Planner, Urban Designer, Planning/Development Consultant.

Career support and employment opportunities:

Career advising: Georgia Tech School of Architecture provides individual faculty career advising, career fairs, seminars, résumé and interview support, and an internship/job board.
Career fairs: The College of Design provides career fairs, résumé development, mock interviews, job/internship searches, networking opportunities, and an embedded Georgia Tech Career Center Career Educator.
Industry connections: Georgia Tech identifies employers where architecture students and graduates gain experience, including HKS, HOK, Lord Aeck Sargent, Gensler, TVS, Moody Nolan, Perkins+Will, and Studio Architects.
Planning internships: MCRP students are required to complete planning-related work experience before graduation, and Georgia Tech reports that many students subsequently work for organizations where they completed internships.
Cooperative experience: The MCRP Cooperative Research Experience Program allows graduate students to work with agencies or firms while remaining enrolled full-time, providing an additional route to professional experience.
Professional practicum: The School of Architecture's Student Practicum Program arranges placements at architecture firms in cities across the United States, giving students direct exposure to professional practice.
Employment statistics and salary: Georgia Tech publishes career outcomes through its Career Center Outcomes Report, including employment information and salary data by degree program. The university does not publish a separate current salary figure specifically for the Dual M.Arch/MCRP program, so a program-specific salary should not be inferred.
Accreditation value: The MCRP component is fully accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB), the joint specialized accrediting body of the American Institute of Certified Planners, American Planning Association, and Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.
Architecture professional pathway: The School of Architecture states that becoming a registered architect typically involves an NAAB-accredited professional degree, completion of 3,740 hours of NCARB AXP experience, and six Architectural Registration Exams; the exact licensure requirements depend on the relevant jurisdiction.
International planning experience: Georgia Tech's planning studios have included collaborations such as the Tokyo Smart City Studio, developed with the University of Tokyo and Keio University, giving students exposure to international urban design and smart-city challenges.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the dual M.Arch/MCRP, students can pursue doctoral-level study in Architecture or City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech, or continue into specialized graduate study such as urban analytics, urban design, or related built-environment disciplines. Georgia Tech also lists Ph.D. programs in both Architecture and City and Regional Planning among its graduate offerings.