Plus all the supplies you spend on for school, any software you may buy, etc. Doesn't include room & board during college.
Totals:
5 year B. Arch, IDP, NCARB: $38,475
4 year arch degree + 2 year M. Arch, IDP, NCARB: $50,403
4 year unrelated degree + 3 year M. Arch, IDP, NCARB: $59,967
Note: Numbers would be much higher for out-of-state and private schools. Tuition numbers were taken from the Fall 2010 tuition costs of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
If you did the 4+3 route, that would equal almost 4 years of working minimum wage to pay for. That's before paying for rent, food, electricity, heat, etc.
Can anyone think of any costs that I missed? Do these numbers seem way off at all?
private year costs are about 20-25g's x 4 or 5 years... 100gs
private grad school is about 22-25gs x 2 or 3 years...50-75gs
i wouldnt suggest anyone to go to school in private school unless you get scholarships or a lot of grants.... go the cheaper route and gain experience in the firms..... coming out of school in the hole at least 75gs is crazy considering what the average salary is for archs....
I worked while I was in school.I worked for half a year(got laid off) but I believe it is possible to work full time and go to school full time if you manage your time well and arrange the classes accordingly (take evening classes etc.)
no way to work full time and do arch school full time... i know in my undergrad, we were in class for 30 hours a week... figure studio 5 hours x 3 times a day plus your other 4-6 classes....
First of all the poster doesn't even mention how they are paying. They could be a 40 year old looking to change careers and have the money sitting in a bank account.
Second of all not every student sponges off their parents. Most of my friends get serious loans. Personally I get by with a scholarship, work as much as possible and the rest comes with help... from my parents. But so what? I don't think it's wrong for parents who have means to support their kids in pursuing a dream. And I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had. I also fully intend to return the favor as soon as I graduate. I would rather be indebted to my parents then a bank.
Everyone pays somehow. It's just a question of how.
Don't forget those cigarette costs keep going up too.
And I don't know where the whole "sponging off your parents" thing came in, I never said anything about how to pay to be an architect, just how much it costs.
I hardly got a dime from my parents, paid for tuition myself, rent, electricity, food, studio supplies, car insurance...
Most of it I paid through loans (owe about 25k)
Some of it got paid through grants.
Some of it was from a part-time job (8-15 hrs a week)
Only when I really needed it to pay rent or something did I ask my parents for help.
I never understood students who had their tuition paid for by their parents, or their rent. One girl's parents bought her a new laptop for Christmas, another got $500 for her birthday and spend it on a stretch Hummer for a night of drinking, another had is parents pay for tuition as long as he maintained a 3.0 or something. Last Christmas my parents gave me a fucking toaster for Christ's sake.
After finishing my undergrad, I would never, never, never try to work even part time during grad school. It's just too exhausting. The last studio professor I had said students were expected to put in 3x to 4x the amount of hours out of class as they do in class. At 17-18 hours of class a week, he said the university expected us to spend 50-70 hours total on class work. Try adding a 20 hr a week job on top of that.
Anyways, when it's all said and done, I can't even afford a handjob at the local strip club.
Damm, I think I hit a nerve here with the spongers.
Don't be all upset about it, most children sponge a bit off their parents. Sure a small percentage don't and yes some think they'll pay their parents back and out of those who thought that maybe 10% finally do, But sponge away folks or get a loan that you'll be paying off for the next 20 plus years.
best part time job while in school is to work for pepsi/coke as a sales merchandiser.... you just go to your few stores and stock/refill the shelves and leave... you can easily have a paid 8hr day be 4 hours of work if you play it right.... and they pay for the full 8hours....you get a little exercise and some time away from a desk.... and the pay is probably more than doing intern work
Damn... I haven't thought of Architectural education costs in a while. I started my program in mid 90's. By the time I got my degree the semester prices easily doubled. Now they seem to have doubled yet again.
Education, heath care, and real estate (and thus rent prices) have more than tripled in the last 15 years or so. Education institutions have made a transition into real estate developers. Healthcare has gone into panic mode, where quarterly reports are the only thing that matters. Real estate has milked an economy that should have softly crashed back in 2000 into a towering inferno 10 years later. Official inflation numbers in the US reflect none of this...
Architectural career always sucked. The difference is that you weren't on the cusp of bankruptcy the minute you graduated. You worked a job that you genuinely liked; you had low debt to worry about; you paid less than 1/4 of your income towards housing; you worked long hours, but had plenty of disposable income to make it up by drinking your bodyweight in beer 3 days a week; it got you laid...
A lot has changed in very short amount of time. Scary times indeed...
The punchline? Record number of students are enrolling into Architecture schools this year.
Second punchline? Educational institutions are still selling architecture as a magical holy grail.
Third punchline? The minute you have a slight slip, you will be replaced by a stronger, hungrier version of younger you. In a highly subjective profession, you have to train your self to become a self-preservation sociopath... Which defeats any purpose of choosing this profession in the first place.
You've gotta subtract all your normal living expenses, etc first before you can start to rationalize the 'education/internship' providing a payback...in other words, take what you have saved AFTER your bills & apply that against the costs.
Or, you could just tke this universal truth - It will take too long to see a return, at least financially.
Architecture, to be enjoyed without debt, must only be done by those who can afford it as a hobby.
Jul 14, 10 11:36 pm ·
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The Cost of Becoming and Architect
So I was wondering what the cost of becoming an architect these days was...so I thought I would look up some numbers.
Undergrad (4 years, public university): $28,800
Undergrad (5 years, public university): $36,000
Graduate (3 years, public university): $28,692
Graduate (2 years, public university): $19,128
IDP: $350
NCARB: $1,500 (new certificate)
$400 (transmittal fee)
$225 (annual certificate renewal)
Plus all the supplies you spend on for school, any software you may buy, etc. Doesn't include room & board during college.
Totals:
5 year B. Arch, IDP, NCARB: $38,475
4 year arch degree + 2 year M. Arch, IDP, NCARB: $50,403
4 year unrelated degree + 3 year M. Arch, IDP, NCARB: $59,967
Note: Numbers would be much higher for out-of-state and private schools. Tuition numbers were taken from the Fall 2010 tuition costs of the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
If you did the 4+3 route, that would equal almost 4 years of working minimum wage to pay for. That's before paying for rent, food, electricity, heat, etc.
Can anyone think of any costs that I missed? Do these numbers seem way off at all?
private year costs are about 20-25g's x 4 or 5 years... 100gs
private grad school is about 22-25gs x 2 or 3 years...50-75gs
i wouldnt suggest anyone to go to school in private school unless you get scholarships or a lot of grants.... go the cheaper route and gain experience in the firms..... coming out of school in the hole at least 75gs is crazy considering what the average salary is for archs....
Oops, the title should be "an" not "and".
And I forgot the ARE, $210 per exam x 7 = $1470.
Isn't there anyway to edit posts on this dang thing?
Milwaukee,
you forgot to add your Soul, to the price.
supplies (not cheap)
books (not cheap)
travel expenses (again, not cheap)
Just double everything, you should be safe then
there is also the annual IDP 'maintenance fee' of ~$100/year that you need to pay until you pass all the ARE sections - so that will be another $700.
add hospital ER expense when slicing your fingers with xactos or table saw/band saw
-ARE study guides
-Not having a part time job while going to college
-Working in one of the first professions to be laid off during a recession
Don't forget that you will rarely be entitled to overtime pay.
one of the biggest downsides I see is what outthere said. not being able to work while in arch school. that def makes things add up quicker.
I worked while I was in school.I worked for half a year(got laid off) but I believe it is possible to work full time and go to school full time if you manage your time well and arrange the classes accordingly (take evening classes etc.)
no way to work full time and do arch school full time... i know in my undergrad, we were in class for 30 hours a week... figure studio 5 hours x 3 times a day plus your other 4-6 classes....
@j: what clown school did you go to where they assigned you less than 108 hours/week of out-of-class work?
This scenario, I suppose, suggests the student is sponging off of their parents.
First of all the poster doesn't even mention how they are paying. They could be a 40 year old looking to change careers and have the money sitting in a bank account.
Second of all not every student sponges off their parents. Most of my friends get serious loans. Personally I get by with a scholarship, work as much as possible and the rest comes with help... from my parents. But so what? I don't think it's wrong for parents who have means to support their kids in pursuing a dream. And I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had. I also fully intend to return the favor as soon as I graduate. I would rather be indebted to my parents then a bank.
Everyone pays somehow. It's just a question of how.
you forgot the booze total...
Don't forget those cigarette costs keep going up too.
And I don't know where the whole "sponging off your parents" thing came in, I never said anything about how to pay to be an architect, just how much it costs.
I hardly got a dime from my parents, paid for tuition myself, rent, electricity, food, studio supplies, car insurance...
Most of it I paid through loans (owe about 25k)
Some of it got paid through grants.
Some of it was from a part-time job (8-15 hrs a week)
Only when I really needed it to pay rent or something did I ask my parents for help.
I never understood students who had their tuition paid for by their parents, or their rent. One girl's parents bought her a new laptop for Christmas, another got $500 for her birthday and spend it on a stretch Hummer for a night of drinking, another had is parents pay for tuition as long as he maintained a 3.0 or something. Last Christmas my parents gave me a fucking toaster for Christ's sake.
After finishing my undergrad, I would never, never, never try to work even part time during grad school. It's just too exhausting. The last studio professor I had said students were expected to put in 3x to 4x the amount of hours out of class as they do in class. At 17-18 hours of class a week, he said the university expected us to spend 50-70 hours total on class work. Try adding a 20 hr a week job on top of that.
Anyways, when it's all said and done, I can't even afford a handjob at the local strip club.
dude, gross
I agree, spending $500 to rent a stretch Hummer for your birthday is disgusting.
Damm, I think I hit a nerve here with the spongers.
Don't be all upset about it, most children sponge a bit off their parents. Sure a small percentage don't and yes some think they'll pay their parents back and out of those who thought that maybe 10% finally do, But sponge away folks or get a loan that you'll be paying off for the next 20 plus years.
Good luck.
best part time job while in school is to work for pepsi/coke as a sales merchandiser.... you just go to your few stores and stock/refill the shelves and leave... you can easily have a paid 8hr day be 4 hours of work if you play it right.... and they pay for the full 8hours....you get a little exercise and some time away from a desk.... and the pay is probably more than doing intern work
Damn... I haven't thought of Architectural education costs in a while. I started my program in mid 90's. By the time I got my degree the semester prices easily doubled. Now they seem to have doubled yet again.
Education, heath care, and real estate (and thus rent prices) have more than tripled in the last 15 years or so. Education institutions have made a transition into real estate developers. Healthcare has gone into panic mode, where quarterly reports are the only thing that matters. Real estate has milked an economy that should have softly crashed back in 2000 into a towering inferno 10 years later. Official inflation numbers in the US reflect none of this...
Architectural career always sucked. The difference is that you weren't on the cusp of bankruptcy the minute you graduated. You worked a job that you genuinely liked; you had low debt to worry about; you paid less than 1/4 of your income towards housing; you worked long hours, but had plenty of disposable income to make it up by drinking your bodyweight in beer 3 days a week; it got you laid...
A lot has changed in very short amount of time. Scary times indeed...
The punchline? Record number of students are enrolling into Architecture schools this year.
Second punchline? Educational institutions are still selling architecture as a magical holy grail.
Third punchline? The minute you have a slight slip, you will be replaced by a stronger, hungrier version of younger you. In a highly subjective profession, you have to train your self to become a self-preservation sociopath... Which defeats any purpose of choosing this profession in the first place.
You've gotta subtract all your normal living expenses, etc first before you can start to rationalize the 'education/internship' providing a payback...in other words, take what you have saved AFTER your bills & apply that against the costs.
Or, you could just tke this universal truth - It will take too long to see a return, at least financially.
Architecture, to be enjoyed without debt, must only be done by those who can afford it as a hobby.
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