In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a six-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
The College of Architecture’s NAAB-accredited degrees include the Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture programs. Master's degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.
Part of the NAAB Conditions for Accreditation are the Student Performance Criteria. The criteria encompass two levels of accomplishment:
Understanding: The capacity to classify, compare, summarize, explain and/or interpret information.
Ability: Proficiency in using specific information to accomplish a task, correctly selecting the appropriate information, and accurately applying it to the solution of a specific problem, while also distinguishing the effects of its implementation.
For more information, please visit the following National Architectural Accrediting Board links on accreditation:
Conditions for Accreditation, 2020 Edition
Conditions for Accreditation, 2009 Edition
Procedures for Accreditation, 2020 Edition
Procedures for Accreditation, 2009 Edition
Toward an Evolution of Studio Culture (PDF)
AIA Resources for Emerging Professionals
NAAB Interim Progress Reports