Partnership builds architecture career pathway for students

building a scale architecture model

An agreement signed by WSU and the Lake Washington Institute of Technology will allow LWTech students to earn an associate’s degree at the Kirkland, Wash., campus and transfer into WSU at the Pullman campus as juniors.

“Both programs have a long history of providing graduates who have hands-on, practical skills and are well prepared when they enter the workforce,” said Phil Gruen, director of the WSU School of Design and Construction.

“Transfer opportunities that lead to advanced degrees and meaningful careers are at the heart of our mission,” said Elliot Stern, LWTech vice president of instruction.

Once students graduate from WSU, they would be eligible to apply to WSU’s master of architecture program, which provides a professional pathway toward licensure as an architect.

“This articulation agreement will make it that much easier for students to have a clearly identified pathway to a viable career in architecture,” Stern said.

In coming up with the agreement, WSU and LWTech faculty and administrators evaluated and identified commonalities in their programs to facilitate direct transfers.

This is the first such agreement between WSU and an architecture studies program in western Washington. LWTech is the only public institute of technology in Washington state.