Auburn Architecture Program Granted Eight-Year Term of Accreditation

The Bachelor of Architecture degree program in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction has been granted an eight-year term of accreditation by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. The term is effective January 1, 2017.

“The recent re-accreditation of our Architecture program by NAAB is a validation of the robust, relevant and rich academic experience through which we prepare our students for the architecture profession,” says Vini Nathan, Dean and McWhorter Endowed Chair in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction.

NAAB accreditation is the primary means by which professional degree programs in architecture assure quality to students and the public. Architecture programs are reviewed on cycles that range from three years to eight years. Reviews include a self-study report based on the NAAB Conditions and Procedures for Accreditation and site visits conducted by a team of educators, practitioners, regulators, and students. The NAAB Visiting Team Report recommends a term of accreditation to NAAB board.

In its 2017 Visiting Team Report, the team commended the Auburn architecture program “for its focus on creating opportunities for students to excel and explore their interest through hand-drawing, exploring technologies, and learning by doing.” The VTR goes on further to explain: “A primary distinguishing characteristic of the program is the option for students to participate in multiple, flexible learning environments, including the Rural Studio in Newbern and the Urban Studio in Birmingham, These programs benefit both the participants and the communities that the programs serve. Through the unique opportunities that these programs create, the programs and participants bring worldwide acclaim to the architecture program; the school; the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC), in which the school is found; and the university.”

Ranked ninth in 2017, Auburn’s undergraduate architecture program has been included in the top twenty programs in the U.S. by DesignIntelligence for the past eleven years. Metropolis magazine recently recognized Auburn’s architecture program for its diversity efforts by including the program among its eight “Diversity Champions” for “taking their diversity efforts above and beyond the rest.”

The architecture program is in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture in Auburn’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction. It is among the oldest programs in the United States and the first in the South.