Another question, are NAAB licenses distribute on a state by state basis? Therefore, a license in Texas is not accredited in Ohio, or some state other than Texas?

Also, are any accredited schools known for not preparing the students accordingly in order to pass the ARE exam?

there are a handful or so of states where you can be licensed without a degree, but it takes a while and isn't always easy.

search around a little on this site, I remember this being discussed in depth a few times, and there were some helpful links.

There's no such thing as an "NAAB license". Licenses are issued by each state only. There is reciprocity between states however, and an NCARB certificate is mightly handy to get licensed in any member state.

I don't know of any professional degree programs that explicitly prepare students to pass the ARE, so the answer to your questions is yes, there "are many accredited schools known for not preparing the students in order to pass the ARE".

* yes you need an accredited degree to sit for the exam in states where IDP os required.
* the NAAB gives accreditation to schools, not licenses to individuals. NAAB accreditation is on a national basis, not state-by-state. state architectural registration boards grant licenses to individuals, and each state has its own rules for license reciprocity to other states. NCARB also allows licensure candidates to apply for a certificate, which makes reciprocity between states easier.
* architecture programs don't put much, if any, emphasis on preparing people for the licensure exam no matter where you go. once you graduate you are, at the absolute best, 3 years from starting to take the exam, and more realistically 5-7 years away before completing IDP (though there are a few states that allow you to start the exam before finishing IDP). your preparation for the exam is supposed to come largely from IDP, but in truth, most people still end up needing to do a lot of cramming before taking the exam.

First of all, a little clarification:

NCARB: governs reciprocity for individual licensed architects wishing to obtain licensure in another state.

NAAB only governs the acreditation of schools offering degrees in architecture.

If you have a licensure question, you may want to start here: NCARB - that site includes links to "Registration Requirements" under the "Resources" tab.

Thanks for the insight, I am quiet a ways from licensing for I will be starting my M.Arch 1 program this summer.

It is not true that you need an accredited degree to become licensed in all states that require IDP. IDP is now required in 45 states (and being phased in in a few of the others.)
But some of the states that require IDP will allow a person with a 4-year non-professional degree - and in a few states even just a highschool diploma - to sit for the exams. In some of these states a longer internship is required (anywhere from 5 to 13 years of experience, depending on the state.)

Here's a link to a comparison of various states' requirements for initial licensing: http://www.ncarb.org/stateboards/MBRfaqinitial.asp

Note that rules for reciprocal licensing vary from state to state. In many it is impossible for someone without a professional degree to become licensed, regardless of whether they are already licensed in another state.

Many states also now require NCARB certification for reciprocal licensing. NCARB certification requires: a license in at least one state, completion of IDP, a degree from an NAAB-accredited professional program, and successful completion of the ARE.

hi i have a question similar to this topic

if you are licensed in say, california, is it legal to work on a project outside of california? or do you need to be accredited in the other state in order for you to work on that project?

and what about in other countries? like in china, do you need to be licensed? or are you required to just work with a local firm?

sashimi-

your question raises others.

what size project? what type of project? if it's a house, a small salon interior, or something else of that scale for which you wouldn't need a license in ca, probably no license necessary in another state.

'work on' or be in charge of? you can work on anything, but most likely, if it requires licensure, you'd need someone licensed in that state to provide oversight before they could apply THEIR stamp.

usually the agencies want to see an in-state stamp when they're doing their review. sometimes they'll settle for the stamp of a licensed engineer next to your out-of-state stamp, but this is at the discretion of the agency with which you're dealing.

if you're licensed in ca, you could probably get ncarb licensure fairly easily ($$$) and then you could apply for reciprocity with other states. ca is an especially good example because ca has an extra layer of requirements for licensure that other states don't have. depending where you want to work, reciprocity should be simple ($$$/time).

these are at least my understandings of what you can do. it doesn't hurt to ask questions. i've known people to get reprimanded for performing/stamping work out-of-state without proper credentials. before you take the project ask the local and state agencies what the rules are.

It is illegal in many states to work, solicit work, or "touch pen to paper" on any projects within that state without having a valid current license in that state. On the other hand, many other states do allow architects to solicit work in states in which they're not registered yet.

You need to check each state's individual rules on this (also available on www.ncarb.org) You must be very careful about this because beyond being "reprimanded" you can be fined tens of thousands of dollars in some states for breaking these laws. Inadvertently breaking the practice laws of a state can also result in an inability to get registered there in the future. For example, if you check California's list of recent offenses against which the California architecture board has taken action, you'll see that in addition to fines, the consequences have often been that the person has been denied licensure in the state indefinately. Sometimes these actions have been taken for issues as seemingly minor as handing out business cards that say "architect" on them or starting a project while one's license application is pending but not complete.

as to the comments that some states do not recquire a professional degree for licensure, pay no attention. in less than five years the entire process of licensure will change. all states will recquire a professional degree, either B.Arch or M.Arch, plus the recquired 700 units of IDP in order to sit for the exam. it is true that certain states, like florida, let you sit for the exam before you have completed IDP, but your licensure is not complete until IDP has been completed. as has been stated, anything and everything you could want to know about licensure is on the NCARB site. good luck. i'm getting ready to sit for the exams and it's one pain in the ass, let me tell you.

While NCARB's policy is that all states should phase out options that allow licensure without a professional degree - and while it's very nearly impossible to get NCARB certification without one - it is not true that all states intend to require a professional degree in the foreseeable future.
Several of the states that currently allow licensure without a professional degree in fact have had policy meetings about that and intend to stick with their current alternatives, as listed on NCARB's site.

Remember that it is the individual state boards that ultimately decide their own laws - and even whether to remain members of NCARB (some of the larger states, including Texas and California, have done studies considering pulling out entirely, but at this point none have actually done so.)

The issue of the states that allow testing prior to completing IDP is entirely separate. In most of those 7 states it is still necessary to complete IDP and to have a professional degree. But NCARB is currently proposing a change that would allow people in all states (except any states that individually choose not to participate) to take at least 6 of the exams prior to completion of IDP. This is also something that you can read about on NCARB's website.

How about for architects licensed and educated outside the US? What's the procedure for cases like this? Are there special short courses you can take to catch up on the credits you lack (supposing the curricula of the foreign university is entirely different)

NCARB has a procedure for evaluating foreign degrees for equivalency to US degrees. It's a long and expensive process. They examine every credit, separate them into types (classroom lecture setting, studio, lab, etc.)
Often deficiencies are found in areas of general education (liberal arts courses, writing and composition, sciences, etc.) as often as with architecture curriculum.
Deficiencies usually need to be made up within accredited programs. In the case of liberal arts courses and other general lecture courses it is often possible to do this through a community college - sometimes even through the online division of a community college. Credit for CLEP exams is also possible.
But for architecture-specific curriculum this generally needs to be earned through an architecture school, and often that's not possible in an abbreviated format, as a night class, or online, etc. because architecture schools rarely offer courses in those formats.

There are some states that have alternative procedures for evaluating candidates with foreign degrees. You should check directly with the state's board for their regulations. However, if you get registered in a particular state without going through NCARB's foreign degree evaluation then you won't be able to get reciprocity in some other states.