The School currently offers three five-year undergraduate programs: Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning, and Landscape Architecture. Among them, Architecture and Urban and Rural Planning have been recognized as National First-Class Undergraduate Programs. The School is authorized to confer doctoral degrees in the first-level discipline of Urban and Rural Planning, as well as master’s degrees in the first-level disciplines of Architecture and Urban and Rural Planning. In addition, it offers professional master’s degree programs in Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning, and Landscape Architecture.

The School consists of three teaching departments—the Department of Architecture, the Department of Urban and Rural Planning, and the Department of Landscape Architecture—and one experimental center, which includes the Building Physics Laboratory, the Visual and Modeling Laboratory, the Architectural History Research Center, and the Architecture Information Technology Laboratory. It also houses the Laboratory of Human Settlements and Building Energy Conservation at Chang’an University, which comprises the Building Energy Efficiency Laboratory and the Energy-Efficient Building Technology Research Center.

In terms of research, the School hosts seven academic and research institutions, including the Institute of Carbon Neutrality for New Urbanization in Western China, the Institute of Urban Studies, the Institute of Human Settlements and Building Energy Efficiency, the Institute of Urban-Rural Development History and Heritage Conservation Planning, the Research Center for Urban-Rural Space and Transportation Synergy, the Green Industrial Building Research Center, and the Institute of Tourism Planning and Design of Chang’an University.

Both the undergraduate (five-year) and master’s programs in Architecture have passed accreditation by the National Architectural Education Evaluation Committee, with the master’s program rated Excellent. Similarly, both the undergraduate (five-year) and master’s programs in Urban and Rural Planning have passed accreditation by the National Urban and Rural Planning Education Evaluation Committee, with both levels also rated Excellent.

In the fourth round of national discipline evaluations released by the Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center of the Ministry of Education on December 28, 2017, all three first-level disciplines of the School were evaluated. The discipline of Urban and Rural Planning was ranked B- (16th nationwide), while Architecture was ranked C- (33rd nationwide).

The School’s disciplinary development leverages the strong academic resources of Chang’an University, guided by the principles of sustainable development, urban–rural integration, and human settlement science. Closely aligned with the regional characteristics and practical challenges of Northwest China, the School has established a “three-in-one” disciplinary system integrating Architecture, Urban and Rural Planning, and Landscape Architecture, distinguished by a strong western regional identity.

In talent cultivation, the School emphasizes the “Education–Industry–Research” interactive approach, grounded in the natural, cultural, and settlement characteristics of Northwest China. It actively responds to new trends in higher education and scientific research under the “New Normal,” aligns with China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”, and supports the development of “Double First-Class” universities. The School highlights a “regional characteristic” teaching model, with research strengths in sustainable urban and architectural development, regional human settlement environments, planning theories and methodologies of regional cities, green buildings and human settlements, architectural technology, regional culture and vernacular architecture, rural planning techniques, urban–rural development history and heritage conservation, land and transportation planning, and ecological planning.

Over the years, the School has received numerous honors, including the First Prize for International Architecture Graduation Design, the Special Award of the International Union of Architects, the Special Gold Award at the National Habitat Classic Architecture and Planning Competition, as well as multiple awards for outstanding graduation projects and planning achievements in Shaanxi Province.