Scholarship Applications
2+2+2 STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS
OFA accepts applications for five academic scholarships awarded annually to students enrolled in the 2+2+2 Program at Valencia College, the University of Central Florida, and the University of Florida CityLab-Orlando. University of Florida students enrolled in the Bachelor of Design in Architecture program attending CityLab-Orlando in the Fall of 2025 are also invited to apply. Scholarships are funded by proceeds from the AIA Orlando Golf Tournament for Scholarships and other donations. The selection of awardees and the scholarship program administration is the responsibility of the OFA.
About the 2+2+2 Program
Valencia College provides the foundation courses in the 2+2+2 Program.
Valencia's Architecture Degree Pathway facilitates the development of fundamental skills in drawing, model making, spatial analysis, and critical thinking. Graduates of the program earn an Associate in Arts Degree.
UCF School of Architecture provides the advanced undergraduate architecture courses in the 2+2+2 Program culminating in the Bachelor of Design in Architecture degree.
The two-year UCF advanced undergraduate curriculum focuses on design as a synthesis of thinking, analyzing, and making; an iterative process that engages issues of space, historical precedent, sustainability, ecology, urbanity, landscape, built-form, and construction toward innovation. This intermediate step in the 2+2+2 Program provides a convenient, affordable, and flexible way for students to complete their higher education studies in Central Florida.
U.F. Graduate School of Architecture at CityLab-Orlando provides graduate architecture courses in the 2+2+2 Program leading to the NAAB Accredited Master of Architecture degree.
Located in the heart of downtown Orlando, CityLab is the final step in the 2+2+2 Program. Students explore architectural ideas within the city's context and conclude their program by completing an individual Research Project or Thesis. The Program offers flexible degree tracks, year-round course offerings, industry marketable specializations, strong connections to the professional community, and is certified to offer the Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL). Students completing all requirements of the IPAL program are eligible for licensure upon graduation.
2025 Scholarships Awards:
$ 5,000 to a student entering final year of Master in Architecture degree program
$ 4,000 to a student entering CityLab G1-G2 studios or entering 2nd year in Core program, pursuing Advanced Master in Architecture degree.
$ 3,000 to a student entering UCF D7-D8 studios
$ 2,000 to a student entering UCF D5-D6 studios
$ 1,000 to a student entering Valencia/UCF D3-D4 studios
2023 2+2+2 Scholarships Awarded
$ 5,000 - Gabriela Lucas Sanchez, a UF CityLab student in her final year of the Master of Architecture degree program
$ 4,000 - Christopher Rosales, a UCF CityLab student in his final year of the Core track program
$ 2,000 - Tala Rawashdeh, a UCF student in her final year of the Bachelor of Design in Architecture degree program
ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS
In 1989 a group of local architects met to develop a vision and plan to create an educational path to earning a NAAB accredited professional degree program that provides students with the credentials needed to prepare for a career as an architect without leaving Central Florida. The group also started the AIA Orlando Golf Tournament for Scholarships to support innovative and deserving students with educational expenses. Implementing this vision would increase the pool of valuable talent engaged by local practices and firms while enriching the local architecture and design community. However, the vision did not become a reality until 2008, when an AIA Orlando Educational Task Force developed the innovative degree path known as the 2+2+2 Program. The total Program takes six years and terminates with a NAAB Accredited Master of Architecture degree from the University of Florida. The first two years are offered at Valencia College through their Architectural Degree Pathway and lead to the Associate in Arts degree. The second two years are taken at the University of Central Florida's College of Arts and Humanities and lead to the Bachelor of Design in Architecture degree. The final two years are offered at the University of Florida School of Architecture at CityLab-Orlando and lead to the Master of Architecture degree. The first cohort of 2+2+2 students graduated in the spring of 2014.
When the AIA Orlando Golf Tournament for Scholarships began in 1989, the only architecture program in Central Florida was Valencia College's two-year Associate in Arts degree. Currently, with students enrolled in three different local educational institutions, the tournament has evolved. It brings together architects and design professionals, vendors, and other professionals from the A/E/C industries for a day of friendly competition to raise funds for scholarships. Since its inception, the tournament has raised over $340,000 for scholarships. In partnership with AIA Orlando and keeping with the original vision, the Orlando Foundation for Architecture (OFA) raises additional funds and awards scholarships to students studying architecture in the country's only 2+2+2 professional architecture degree program in Orlando, Florida.
Scholarship recipients are announced at the annual OFA Awards Ceremony.
Ceremony date April 3rd, 2024
