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The latest NCARB report shows how architectural education changed in 2020

2021-08-16T14:04:00-04:00

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has published new data giving insights into the growth of architectural education throughout the 2019/2020 academic year. As part of their tenth annual NCARB by the Numbers report, NCARB examined the number of individuals beginning, continuing, and graduating from architectural education throughout the academic year as well as information on demographics.

Overall, the number of new and total enrollments in NAAB-accredited programs continued to rise for the 2019/2020 academic year, as did the number of graduates. 7,968 new students enrolled in an NAAB program in the 2019/2020 cycle, representing a 3% increase on the previous year, and a third consecutive year of steady growth. Of those, 51% enrolled in a Bachelor of Architecture, 48% enrolled in a Master of Architecture, and less than 1% enrolled in a Doctor of Architecture. Just over half of new students (51%) were women.

Related on Archinect: Total number of U.S. ...

Understanding Your Role as an AXP Mentor

2017-10-23T09:00:00-04:00

By: Holly Williams Leppo, AIA, NCIDQ-certified, LEED, AP

This post is brought to you by PPI

At the heart of NCARB’s Architectural Experience Program (AXP) is the master/apprentice relationship that has always been an integral part of architectural education. AXP candidates are required to work under the tutelage of an AXP Supervisor - an experienced practitioner who is directly responsible for the young professional’s work. But AXP also advocates that candidates build more informal relationships within the greater architectural community by suggesting that candidates select an AXP Mentor.

The AXP Mentor’s primary responsibility is to advise the young professional in a thoughtful, impartial way. This person acts as a sounding board for questions, concerns, and frustrations, and provides guidance as the candidate navigates the first few years of employment and the AXP. Successful mentors are willing to devote a few hours a month to having coffee or lunch with their mentee, are ope...

Building Practice: Woodbury is Shaping the Future of Architecture

2017-08-28T12:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Woodbury University.

An architecture program should empower students to ask questions, reframe new problems and challenge the status quo. Woodbury School of Architecture (WSoA) is doing this by rethinking the student experience to better prepare our graduates for an ever-evolving professional world. With programs such as the Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL), the Agency for Civic Engagement (ACE), the Real Estate Development (RED) program, and studio partnerships with professional offices, WSoA prepares students for a profession that they themselves will transform.

Programs in WSoA are evolving. So too is the path to professional licensure. Reports show that the average time from graduation to licensure is roughly seven years, and that is the average for candidates who become licensed. What is not shown is the number of architecture graduates who do not become licensed. Given the disparity between the numbers of graduates from professi...

17 Architecture Schools now offer a faster track to becoming an architect

2017-06-21T09:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by PPI.

Seventeen US architecture schools now offer their students a faster track to becoming an architect; NCARB’s Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL). Students in IPAL programs will document the same number of hours of work experience, pass the same exams, and earn the same architecture degree as their non-accelerated counterparts – but they will have the opportunity to accomplish all of this before they graduate from college.

California leads the way, with three participating institutions (New School of Architecture and Design, University of Southern California and Woodbury University), but IPAL is making an impact in architecture schools from coast to coast, and NCARB has pledged to work with state licensing boards to increase the number of jurisdictions which will accept this alternative to the traditional sequence of school, then work, then testing.

Typically, architectural training begins with graduation from a professional degree...

Architecture students at 17 schools will get licensed quicker with help from NCARB's new licensure program, IPAL

2016-12-13T19:36:00-05:00

The recently introduced IPAL, or Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure, promises to streamline the architectural licensure process for students at 17 universities and colleges by incorporating the Architectural Experience Program into the curriculum. Licensure, which is required by a majority of the fifty states and governing agencies in Canada, usually takes a few years of intense study and rigorous examinations after one's initial formal education is complete to attain. Initiated by NCARB, the in-school program will enable students to also take the ARE. Here's a full transcript of the press release:

Friends,The road to licensure for architects is getting shorter and shorter, thanks to a recent initiative spearheaded by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).

The Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL) provides students the opportunity to complete requirements for licensure while they are still earning their degree. Through the initiative, sc...