Skip Navigation

Quick Links for Internal Audiences

Arch Homefor Undergrad Studentsfor Grad Studentsfor Faculty & Staff

Accreditation

Statement on Accreditation from the National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB)

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.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture 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.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Fine and Applied Arts, School of Architecture offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:

Master of Architecture

(pre-professional degree plus 62 graduate credit hours)

(undergraduate degree plus 65 prerequisite credit hours and 54 graduate credit hours)

Accreditation of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Architecture

The School of Architecture offers the Master of Architecture (M. Arch) as the professional degree accredited by the NAAB. The Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies (BSAS) is a pre-professional undergraduate degree and is not a professional degree accredited by the NAAB. The one-year M. Arch program is 1-year program for students who already hold a NAAB accredited B. Arch or M. Arch and is therefore not unaccredited. Beginning with incoming class of Fall 08, the nomenclature for the one year master's degree has been the MSAS, Master of Science in Architectural Studies. The PhD in Architecture is also not a professional degree and is not accredited by the NAAB. The School of Architecture received a full 6-year accreditation in 2009. The next NAAB visit is scheduled for 2015. The School of Architecture Accreditation reports are available at http://www.arch.uiuc.edu/about/accreditation/ . The publication: NAAB Conditions for Accreditation (including the Student Performance Criteria) is available on the NAAB web site at http://www.naab.org/

 

Additional Information

Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, Main Stair
 Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, Main Stair

More Information

The National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB)