Bachelor of Architecture

In the United States, most 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 professional degree programs in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. regional accreditation, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an eight-year term, an eight-year term with conditions, or a two-year term of continuing accreditation, or a three-year term of initial accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established education standards. Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a non-accredited undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the non-accredited degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

The NAAB grants candidacy status to new programs that have developed viable plans for achieving initial accreditation. Candidacy status indicates that a program expects to achieve initial accreditation within six years of achieving candidacy, if its plan is properly implemented. In order to meet the education requirement, set forth by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, an applicant for an NCARB Certificate must hold a professional degree in architecture from a program accredited by the NAAB; the degree must have been awarded not more than two years prior to initial accreditation. However, meeting the education requirement for the NCARB Certificate may not be equivalent to meeting the education requirement for registration in a specific jurisdiction. Please contact NCARB for more information.

Truckee Meadows Community College was granted eligibility for candidacy status for the following professional degree program in architecture:
Bachelor of Architecture, 150 total credits

PROJECTED ACCREDITATION TIMELINE:

Year candidacy awarded: 2024
Next visit: Continuation of Candidacy in 2026
Projected year to achieve initial accreditation: 2028
Earliest graduation date projected to meet NCARB education requirement: 2026

Important Statement from Louis Ling, Legal Counsel of the Nevada State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design 

At the Board's meeting on August 17, 2022, concern was raised that students enrolled and planning to become enrolled in the new TMCC architecture program would not be able to obtain registration because when they graduate TMCC will not yet be a NAAB-accredited program. It was explained that NAAB-accreditation is not awarded to an architecture program until it has graduated one or more classes of students. The Board asked that I research how the Board might address the concerns of the students.

Fortunately, the answer for the students is positive and already exists in statute, namely NRS 623.190(2). NRS 623.190 is the statute that sets out the general requirements for registration as an architect, and subsection (2) provides:

2. Each year of study, up to and including 5 years of study, satisfactorily completed in an architectural program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, any program of architecture in the State of Nevada or any architectural program approved by the State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design is considered equivalent to 1 year of experience in architectural work for the purpose of registration as an architect. [Emphasis supplied.]

As can be seen in the emphasized language in NRS 623.190(2), the Legislature has created three educational pathways for architectural applicants: (1) a NAAB-accredited program; (2) a program of architecture in the State of Nevada; or (3) an architectural program approved by the Board. Obviously, the TMCC program would qualify for the second of these pathways even before it attains NAAB accreditation, and, of course, the Board could also undertake a review of the TMCC program itself and approve it, which would satisfy the third pathway.

Therefore, the Board could notify the TMCC students and the TMCC program that its graduates will qualify for registration with the Board regardless of the NAAB-accreditation status at the time of their graduations.