Illinois Tech College of Architecture is ranked in the top 15 undergraduate programs in Design Intelligence’s 2016 ranking of “America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools.” College of Architecture’s B.Arch. program was ranked 13th in the national listing for 2016 up two spots from the 2015 ranking. Once again, College of Architecture’s undergraduate program was ranked #1 in the Midwest region.

America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools is conducted annually by DesignIntelligence on behalf of the Design Futures Council. The research ranks undergraduate and graduate programs from the perspective of leading practitioners. This 16th annual survey was conducted in mid-2015.

Selected professional practice leaders with direct experience hiring and supervising the performance of recent architecture and design graduates are invited to participate in the research. Survey participants, who are drawn from the Design Futures Council database of leading firms throughout the United States, must verify they are currently responsible for hiring or supervising design professionals in each of the design fields for which they respond: architecture, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture. Surveys from non-qualifying individuals are excluded from the results.

The professional practice survey posed participants the question, “In your firm’s hiring experience in the past five years, which of the following schools are best preparing students for success in the profession?” In addition, they are asked about additional issues, such as how programs rate in teaching various skills.