NAAB Accreditation

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 6-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.

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. Students with an undergraduate degree in disciplines other than architecture may also seek an accredited Master's degree. The pre-professional undergraduate degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree. (From 2004 NAAB Conditions for Accreditation.)

Accreditation of the Master Degree in Architecture at the University Cincinnati

The School of Architecture and Interior Design offers the Master of Architecture (M. Arch) as the professional degree accredited by the NAAB. The Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies (BS Arch) is a pre-professional degree and is not accredited by the NAAB. Students seeking an accredited degree should complement the B.S. Arch degree with an accredited M. Arch degree. The two-year M.S. Arch program is an unaccredited, research based program.

Beginning with incoming class of Fall 08, the nomenclature for students studying architecture for the first-time will be the M Arch 1 program. Students coming from other schools will join the M Arch 2 program. The School of Architecture received a full 6-year accreditation in 2003.

The next NAAB accreditation visit is scheduled for February 2009.

Faculty members and students may access the NAAB Conditions for Accreditation (including the Student Performance Criteria) on the NAAB website.