Dear Friends, Thank you for championing our students’ success through the College of Environmental Design’s (CED) Technology Access Initiative at UC Berkeley. Since 2021, this program has removed barriers to provide equitable access to state-of-the-art software, computer labs, fabrication labs, and digital fabrication labs that are essential to students’ environmental design experience. Your dedication helps ensure that talent, creativity, and determination — not circumstance — define a student’s experience at CED. This report celebrates what your partnership makes possible through the Technology Access Initiative: students empowered, ideas realized, and futures being built to shape a better world. I hope you enjoy reading about the impact you are making through this vital program, and I am grateful for your commitment to equipping our students with the tools to thrive. Fiat Lux, and Go Bears! With appreciation, Rich Lyons, Chancellor
Five Years of Expanding Opportunity
Thanks to our donor community, the Technology Access Initiative is celebrating five years as the most effective and transformative way to support undergraduates at CED. Since the program’s launch, nearly 3,500 CED undergraduates have received no-cost access to essential computer labs equipped with environmental design software and design resources that enable them to fully engage in their education. In the past three years, 650 Dream Act and Pell Grant recipients have also received waivers for the Fabrication and Digital Fabrication Labs, ensuring equitable participation in these critical learning spaces. With access to these resources, students are empowered to pursue their ambitions at Berkeley and beyond.
At CED, innovation is hands-on and immersive, integrating cutting-edge fabrication labs, advanced planning and GIS programming, industry-standard software, and advanced technologies across environmental design programs. These tools are essential for students’ academic and professional development, yet the costs — sometimes up to $1,000 per year for lab access and materials — fall outside tuition and financial aid. For many talented students, particularly those from low-income, first-generation, and systemically marginalized backgrounds, these expenses create a significant barrier to fully participating in the learning that defines a CED education. Through the Technology Access Initiative, your commitment removes this obstacle, ensuring that students with the greatest financial need have equitable access to the tools required to design, model, and build their ideas while developing the skills and expertise vital for their careers.
A Diverse and Resilient Student Community
Our talented students are the foundation of CED. They form one of the most diverse colleges at Berkeley, bringing experiences and perspectives that strengthen CED and inspire innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges in design and the built environment. At CED, 39% of students are the first in their families to attend college, 39% identify as underrepresented minorities, and 43% receive Pell Grants, federal awards for students with exceptional financial need. Nearly 30% of students — more than 200 — come from families with annual incomes under $50,000. They have earned their place through CED’s highly competitive admissions process, with just 8.3% of applicants accepted over the past three years. These students have demonstrated extraordinary promise and resilience, often overcoming significant personal, social, or economic hardships. And for many, the additional costs of essential software and fabrication technologies can create a two-tiered educational experience — one where financial means, not merit, dictates opportunity. The Technology Access Initiative ensures that economic constraints do not limit what our students can achieve once they arrive at Berkeley.
"Finances are one of the main sources of stress in my life as a student. I am a re-entry student, which means my expenses are often higher than those of a traditional undergraduate, and as a migrant, I do not have access to financial support from family members. The Technology Access Initiative has been an enormous help, allowing me to better manage my finances and redirect those funds toward other essential personal and academic needs. The fee waivers for labs and materials are an approximate savings of $500 per semester — an amount that makes a difference for students like me living on a tight budget. I am deeply grateful to the donors who make this possible, as their generosity directly impacts my ability to continue my education."
Expanding Access to Essential Technology
Your commitment places the advanced technologies central to a CED education within reach for students from all backgrounds, helping build a more inclusive academic community. Through the Technology Access Initiative, fee waivers give students access to essential software, fabrication labs, and materials for their coursework and studio. For the past five years, all CED undergraduates, about 700 students annually, have been granted full access to the college’s computer labs through the initiative. Nearly 100 fee waivers per semester also allow Pell Grant and Dream Act students to use the Fabrication and Digital Fabrication Labs and obtain the materials they need to bring their ideas to life. Below is a list of these resources — which students, especially those with the greatest financial need, can now use fully and equitably — thanks to your partnership.
CURRENT SUITE OF FABRICATION, COMPUTER LABS, AND STUDENT COSTS
- Computer Labs Provides 24/7 access to computers located throughout studios, PhD offices, lounges, and other spaces. Students use lab and studio computers equipped with industry-standard software — including Adobe, AutoDesk, ESRI, ArcGIS, Fusion360, Grasshopper, Microsoft, Rhino, V-Ray, and more — plus laser printers, plotters, Web Print, the Render Farm, and the CED Virtual Lab.
Cost: $98 per semester for undergraduate students; additional printing fees vary.
- Fabrication Lab Offers a 3,600-square-foot open-plan wood and metal shop, with a walk-in spray booth and outdoor yard, for model building, experimentation with new materials, and preparation for the Digital Fabrication Lab. The wood shop includes equipment for cutting and milling lumber, while the metals area has tools for cutting, bending, and welding metal. Students are supported by professional staff and use the space for CED-related coursework.
Cost: $150 per semester for undergraduate students; select upper-division Architecture and Landscape Architecture courses require use.
- Digital Fabrication Lab Facilitates hands-on learning in a 1,500-square-foot facility equipped with seven laser cutters, twenty 3D printers, a ShopSabre CNC, and a Zund cutting system. Students consult with staff to prepare digital models and then cut or print their parts, bolstering both undergraduate and graduate coursework.
Cost: $250 per semester for undergraduates; select upper-division courses require use.
- 2D & 3D Printing Enables students to communicate ideas — from site maps and spatial models to complex design presentations — and produce reports and studio work. These technologies are required for full participation in coursework and studio. Access ensures every student can effectively visualize and share research.
Cost: Up to $100 per semester; costs vary by student.
CED’s innovation in integrating advanced technologies across environmental design programs is a key reason we are consistently ranked the No. 1 public university in the United States for architecture and the built environment. These tools are not optional — they are essential for hands-on, immersive learning and turning ideas into real-world solutions, preparing our students for environmental design careers. Thanks to your partnership, students can access safe, reliable, and up-to-date technologies that prepare them to excel in the workforce and address urgent challenges, from the climate crisis to inequities in the built environment.
"The CED's Technology Access Initiative has been crucial in allowing more students to access the tools they need for hands-on learning at CED. The costs that our students incur in their studio courses, for example, can be quite high, as it requires them to purchase model-making supplies, and pay for large-scale plotting, 3D printing, software, and accessing the fabrication labs. Learning to use and experiment with these tools are critical to preparing students for a future in the field. I’m grateful to the donors for making these resources more accessible to our students."
Sustaining Access for Future Generations
Looking ahead, the Technology Access Initiative aims to ensure equitable access to essential design technology for students with the greatest financial need now and in perpetuity. Our ultimate goal is to create an endowment that puts students first, empowering generations of undergraduates while maintaining labs with cutting-edge technology. No student should have to choose between coursework and covering basic needs like food or rent, and this vital fee waiver program prevents exactly that. By supporting the Technology Access Initiative, you are investing directly in student opportunity, empowerment, and academic success.
"The Technology Access Initiative has been an instrumental part of my undergraduate architectural studies over the past three years. Studio expenses make up a significant portion of my cost of attendance at Berkeley. The fabrication costs I was able to save allowed me to invest in other studio materials, giving me the freedom to test ideas and produce higher-quality work. The fee waiver represents more than financial relief, but opportunities ahead. I am so grateful to the donors to CED whose generosity makes this possible."
You Are the Game Changers
Our students call the Technology Access Initiative a “Game Changer” because it levels the technology playing field for those facing financial challenges. This program exists entirely thanks to philanthropy, and you are at the heart of that impact. Your generosity makes you the true game changers, providing students with the resources and confidence to reach their full potential. We invite you to tour the labs during the Cal Day and Homecoming open houses in the spring and fall, and see firsthand how your support drives student exploration, creativity, and innovation. Please email cedfund@berkeley.edu to learn more.
Thank You for Empowering the Future of Environmental Design
Berkeley’s mission as a public university is rooted in its role as an engine of social mobility — opening the doors of an elite education to talented students from every background. The Technology Access Initiative is a powerful expression of this commitment to equity and excellence, removing financial barriers so that students can be fully immersed in the landscape of research, experimentation, and design inquiry that defines a CED education. Your generosity empowers students from all backgrounds to thrive. Thank you for helping lay the foundation for the next generation of leaders in environmental design, equipping them to innovate, create, and shape the future of our world.