Seventy-five units are required if you have little or no previous design
education or experience. Credit is provided for comparable courses taken at other institutions -- up to 15 units. Students are responsible for deciding their own programs from among optional elective courses, but they are expected to carry a balanced program, including ecological and architectural design, media, construction technology, and project management courses. The Core Program of courses (described elsewhere) or comparable previous education, is required of all students.

You may enter SFIA without an undergraduate degree on a conditional basis, and be classed as undergraduate or "indeterminate status." Once your work reaches an undergraduate level of quality, you will be eligible to be classed as a candidate for the Master of Ecological Design degree.

Some students prefer to not be candidates for a degree and/or to enroll only in noncredit classes. Status can be reviewed and modified at any time, upon request. And noncredit courses can be upgraded to credit, with completion of all work assignment, payment of "for credit" tuition, and faculty review.

Listed below are program options for students who seek a Master of Ecological Design Degree at SFIA.

These options are based on a basic requirement of 75 academic units for a Master of Architecture degree. (A combination degree: Master of Architecture and Ecological Design is also offered and requires a total of 125 units.)

Option 1: If you have graduated from a five-year professional architectural program, you'll need to earn approximately 25 to 50 more units (2 to 4 semesters) for a Master of Ecological Design degree. The exact amount required will be determined by a review of transcripts, work resumes, and previous project work. (Anyone who has a license to practice architecture, regardless of prior educational background, would qualify at this level.)

Option 2: If you have graduated with a four-year BArch from an unaccredited school such as the UC Berkeley undergraduate program, you'll need to earn approximately 50 units (3 to 4 semesters). As above, the exact amount is determined by an examination of record and work.

Option 3: If you have a degree in a discipline other than architecture or have achieved the equivalence of BA status in another discipline through education and/or work experience, you'll need about 75 units. This will require approximately 6 semesters.

Option 4: If you have no education or experience in architecture and no undergraduate degree, you'll be enrolled on a conditional basis and
"indeterminate status" until your work reaches an acceptable level of competence. Then you'll be classified as a candidate for the Master of
Ecological Design degree. You'll be required to complete 75 or more units of closely supervised study which will require 6 or more semesters.

Option 5: If you have some partial education and/or work experience related to architecture, we will evaluate your transcript(s) and confirm your resume of work experience to establish the approximate equivalent credit that can be allowed for your prior work. Work experience equivalency may be limited to 6 units of credit to be applied to the 75 or more required units.

School credit will be based on equivalency with courses offered at SFIA. A 5-unit studio class at an accredited school, for example, would count for 5 units at SFIA.

Option 6: If you have a degree or credit from a non-US architectural school, your status will be determined by the hours spent in your previous courses of study and work samples from each course.

Those without an undergraduate degree can be enrolled for credit on
conditional status until they establish they are capable of handling graduate level studies.

SFIA does not provide a Master of Architecture degree based solely on professional experience. School work must be completed as per the options described above.

These options presume the student also has satisfactory knowledge of the sciences and humanities and acceptable communications skills. If the student does not have such background, such work will have to be added to the 75 units of professional educational credit.

Distance learning options may be available for core course work at school. Video tapes and course materials are provided and work evaluated as for any on-site study. The non-credit option is not provided for distance learning classes.

Previous course project work is most important when reviewing status. Grades or grade point average are not considered except that course work has to have been completed to be counted. Courses that received F, Non-Pass, I, or withdrawal status would not be counted.

Check back soon or contact SFIA for more details.