NAAB Conditions for Accreditation
For Professional Degree Programs in Architecture
2004 Edition
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Introduction

Preface
The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) is the only agency recognized by registration boards in the United States to accredit professional degree programs in architecture. Because most registration boards require an applicant for licensure to hold an NAAB-accredited degree, obtaining such a degree is an essential part of gaining access to the licensed practice of architecture.
 
The curriculum of an NAAB-accredited degree program includes professional studies, general studies, and electives. To gain and retain accreditation of its degree program, each institution must both develop a program specific to its mission and also educate students to be knowledgeable and capable of producing work that can be measured by, and satisfy, specific performance criteria.
 
The NAAB fully recognizes the rights and responsibilities of the educational institutions that offer degrees in preparation for entry into professional careers in the licensed practice of architecture as defined and governed by the laws of the individual states and jurisdictions. Educational institutions are composed of a faculty responsible for the appropriate development of individual courses and curricula that are required, at a minimum, to provide each student the educational opportunity to meet the student performance criteria as defined by the NAAB.
 
The NAAB recognizes the institutional rights and responsibilities of the faculty to explore fundamental and innovative educational concepts, scholarship, research, methods, and technologies that exceed the minimum student performance criteria and that will lead to even higher standards of performance within the profession of architecture and related alternative careers of diverse and creative service to society.
 
Background
The first step leading to architectural accreditation was taken in Illinois where the first
legislation regulating the practice of architecture was enacted in 1897. Following that
enactment, the Illinois Board of Examiners and Regulators of Architects gave its first
examination in 1898 and by 1902 had established a rule restricting the examination to
graduates of the state’s approved 4-year architecture curriculum. In 1903, the board
expanded this policy to include graduates from Cornell, Columbia, and Harvard
Universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of
Pennsylvania. That action suggested the need for national standards of architectural
education.
 
The first attempt to establish national standards came with the founding of the Association
of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) in 1912 and its adoption 2 years later of
“standard minima” that schools were required to meet to gain ACSA membership. While
these standard minima were in place, ACSA membership was equivalent to accreditation.
In 1932, the ACSA abandoned the standard minima, causing an 8-year hiatus in the
profession’s national system of education—a hiatus brought to an end when the ACSA,
American Institute of Architects (AIA), and National Council of Architectural Registration
Boards (NCARB) established the NAAB and gave it authority to accredit schools of
architecture nationally. The founding agreement of 1940 also announced the intention to
create an integrated system of architectural education that would allow schools with varying
resources and circumstances to develop according to their particular needs.
The accreditation system has evolved in response to changing times and the advice of its
constituency; advice now formalized through a process of validation. Today, the NAAB’s
accreditation system for professional degree programs within schools requires a selfassessment
by the accredited degree program, an evaluation of that assessment by the
NAAB, and a site visit by an NAAB team that concludes with a recommendation to the
NAAB as to the term of accreditation. The decision regarding the term of accreditation is
then made by the NAAB Board of Directors.

• The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. The mission of ACSA,founded in 1912, is to advance architectural education through support of member schools, their faculties, and their students. This support involves serving by encouraging dialogue among the diverse areas of the discipline; facilitating teaching, research, and scholarly and creative works through intra- or interdisciplinary activity; articulating the critical issues forming the context of architectural education; and fostering public awareness of architectural education and issues of importance to it. This advancement shall be implemented through five primary means: advocacy, annual program activities, liaison with collateral organizations, dissemination of information, and response to the needs of the member schools in order to enhance the quality of life in a global society. 
  
  
• The American Institute of Architects. Since 1857, the AIA has represented the professional interests of America’s architects. AIA numbers more than 70,000 licensed architects, emerging professionals, and allied partners who, in design, express their commitment to excellence and livability in our nation’s buildings and communities.
  
  
• The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. Founded in 1919, the NCARB today provides assistance in protecting the public’s health, safety, and welfare to 55 boards regulating architecture in the 50 states, 4 territories, and District of Columbia.
  
  
• The American Institute of Architecture Students. Founded in 1956, the AIAS serves architecture students throughout North America by promoting and complementing architectural education and by representing the concerns of students to the profession and the public.