The undergraduate study of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania takes place within a liberal arts and sciences education. While undergraduate architecture at the University of Pennsylvania resides in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), faculty and staff from the School of Design teach and administer the Major and Minor in Architecture. As with other freshman in the CAS, students enroll in general courses during their freshman year and declare a major during their sophomore year

The Major in Architecture includes courses in design, history, and theory of architecture. The degree earned is a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). While a B.A. in itself does not fulfill the education requirement for architectural licensure by States within the United States of America (see the National Architectural Accrediting Board at the courses required for the Major in Architecture meet or exceed the prerequisites for admission to most Master of Architecture professional degree programs in the United States.

A select number of seniors in the Major in Architecture, enroll in the Intensive Major, which includes first-year technology courses in the graduate professional degree program. Students who have successfully completed the Intensive Major are qualified to be admitted with advanced placement into the second year of the graduate program.

Most of the required courses offered in the undergraduate program are design studios. Student work in the design studios ranges from hand drawing and three-dimensional physical models to three-dimensional parametric modeling and 3D-printing.