The Master of Architecture program is intended for students wishing to become licensed architects and has an 8-year professional accreditation term with the National Architectural Accrediting Board.
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 educational 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.
Portland State University, School of Architecture, offers the following NAAB-accredited degree programs:
M.Arch [preprofessional degree + 74 graduate credits]
Next accreditation visit for all programs: 2024
Here are links to the latest Architecture Program Report (APR), Visiting Team Report (VTR), the latest NAAB Conditions for Accreditation and Procedures for Accreditation, and the NAAB Interim Progress Report for Year Five.
The latest decision letter from NAAB may be viewed here (PDF). Along with the 2009 Conditions for Accreditation and the 2012 Procedures for Accreditation in effect at the time of the last visit may be viewed here.
The NAAB Conditions for Accreditation, including the Student Performance Criteria, can also be found at NAAB. Specifically, you can find and download the 2020 NAAB Conditions for Accreditation, as well as the 2020 NAAB Procedures for Accreditation, on the NAAB Documents page.
THE NATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL ACCREDITING BOARD
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006-5292
202.783.2007 Phone
202.783.2822 Fax