Following the completion of the public comment period, March 14-April 13, 2024, NAAB announces revisions to Condition 4.2, effective September 3, 2024. The NAAB Board of Directors voted to approve the proposed changes (as described in March 14-April 13, 2024, Call for Public Comment, second of two) based on the overall support for the current language of the Condition, evident in the number of programs already in compliance, and combined with the favorable response received in the second Call for Public Comment. All programs will be required to come into compliance with the revised Condition 4.2 at the time of their 2025 Annual Report submission, due December 15, 2025.
Programs holding NAAB accreditation are required to demonstrate ongoing compliance with all Conditions for Accreditation on annual basis through the submission of their Annual Report. Programs that do not demonstrate compliance will be reviewed in accordance with 2020 Procedures for Accreditation.
Click here to view the revised version of 2020 NAAB Conditions for Accreditation.
Background and Rationale:
May 1 – June 1, 2023 Call for Public Comment (First of Two)
In May 2023, NAAB first issued a Call for Public Comment on a proposal to remove language in Condition 4.2, which states: “NAAB-accredited professional degree programs have the exclusive right to use the B.Arch., M.Arch., and/or D.Arch. titles, which are recognized by the public as accredited degrees and therefore may not be used by non-accredited programs.” At the same time, NAAB proposed strengthening the requirements in Condition 6: Public Information, to ensure that programs clearly distinguish accredited programs from non-accredited programs to avoid confusion among students, prospective students, employers and the public in distinguishing between NAAB-accredited professional degrees that prepare students for licensure and non-accredited architecture degree programs. For this reason, the feedback received by NAAB did not support the proposed revisions.
In response to this input, the NAAB Board of Directors decided not to approve this proposed change but rather continue its research of accreditation practices related to distinguishing accredited from non-accredited programs.
March 14 – April 13, 2024 Call for Public Comment (Second of Two)
In March 2024, based on the additional research, NAAB issued a subsequent request for public comment to propose a minor revision to Condition 4.2, intended to improve clarity while affirming the requirement that “…the terms B.Arch., M.Arch., and D.Arch. are reserved for use by the institutional sponsor’s NAAB-accredited architecture degree programs, except in the case where compliance with this requirement would violate state, federal, or national law.” The Condition has also been revised to require that the institutional sponsor’s unaccredited architecture degree programs must place clear statements in all relevant publications and marketing materials, electronic as well as print, that the programs are not NAAB-accredited and may not be accepted as meeting licensure requirements in many U.S. states.
NAAB is encouraged by the positive response it received from its programs and other stakeholders and believes that these changes serve NAAB’s mission and interest in protecting both current and prospective students as consumers, the profession, educational institutions, and employers as well as assuring the integrity of NAAB accreditation and the recognition it has earned over the last several decades.
We thank everyone who provided comments during the two public call periods.