Accreditation

What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is a review of the quality of higher education institutions and programs. In the United States, accreditation is a major way that students, families, government officials, and the press know that an institution or program provides a quality education. NAAB provides accreditation services and oversight to ensure architecture programs meet key quality assurance responsibilities.

In 2020 NAAB embraced a more comprehensive approach to accreditation, one that utilizes outcome-based criteria to assess not only whether a program effectively teaches, but also whether students are learning and demonstrating competency in their area of study. This is the mission of accreditation and is the core of the shared commitment embraced by NAAB and the collateral organizations.

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Who does accreditation benefit?

About NAAB Icon - University

NAAB accreditation benefits academic programs by helping to maintain and continuously improve the quality of architectural education, ensuring an equitable process for quality assurance that fosters diversity in architecture programs while safeguarding the autonomy of program philosophy in individual schools.

About NAAB Icon - Students

NAAB accreditation benefits architecture students by assuring the quality, consistency and credibility of professional education among individual architecture programs. The NAAB-accredited degree meets the education requirement for registration in all 55 U.S. jurisdictions; it is required in 38*.

About NAAB Icon - Profession

NAAB accreditation benefits the architecture profession by supporting efforts to ensure a continuing supply of qualified professionals while promoting the development of research and development to advance the field of professionals.

About NAAB Icon - Practice

NAAB accreditation benefits the architecture practice by validating the credibility of professional degrees offered by individual schools while assuring that educational programs exceed the minimum standards necessary to prepare students for internship prior to professional practice.

Why should I choose an accredited program?

Architecture, like law and medicine, is regulated at the state level. A NAAB-accredited degree meets the education requirement for registration in all 55 U.S. jurisdictions; it is required in 38. Graduating from a NAAB-accredited program does not guarantee registration. However, graduates of NAAB-accredited programs perform better on the ARE compared to their peers who did not graduate from a NAAB-accredited program.

NAAB Degree Required for License Map Key

*Of the 38 jurisdictions that require a NAAB accredited degree, 12 recognize a program accredited by the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) and/or will accept an Educational Evaluation Services for Architects (EESA) verification in lieu of that requirement.

What is NAAB’s accreditation process?

Any accreditation system includes five core elements:

The evaluation is carried out by a non-profit, non-governmental organization.
The program or institution prepares a self-evaluation report.
The program or institution hosts a visit by a team.
Judgments are made by peers who are trained.
The program has opportunities to respond to the process at certain points along the way.

The NAAB accreditation cycle may range from every few years to as many as eight years. Every program seeking either initial or renewal of accreditation must go through a number of steps, with support and oversight provided by NAAB at every step of the way:

Architecture Program Report (APR): Programs prepare a self-evaluation report to report compliance with the NAAB Conditions and Procedures for Accreditation.
Peer review: Accreditation review and site visits are conducted by a team of educators, practitioners, regulators, and students.
Preparation of visiting team report (VTR): The report, prepared by the visiting team at the end of its visit, summarizes its findings.
Action by the NAAB Board: Based on the program’s complete accreditation record, the Board determines areas of compliance/noncompliance with the Conditions for Accreditation and grants a term of accreditation.
Ongoing external review: Architecture programs submit annual reports to demonstrate ongoing compliance and submit additional reports as required on areas of noncompliance.

Accreditation Statistics

On average, NAAB conducts 30 site visits resulting in a Visiting Team Report (VTR) for each program. In addition, NAAB expects to evaluate 100+ maintenance reviews, 175 annual report reviews and conduct 4-6 workshops and trainings, in addition to other accreditation functions.

30 Site Visits