Division of Architecture

Accreditation

In the United States, most state 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 U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the bachelor of architecture, the master of architecture and the doctor of architecture. A program may be granted a six-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on its degree of conformance with established educational standards. Master’s degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree, which, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

Center of Excellence

Recognizing the need for more architects to be educated in the State of Florida, especially African Americans, and to attract white and other racial groups to this historically black university, the State University System founded the Division of Architecture at Florida A&M University in 1975. In 1978, the State University System selected one “center of excellence” on each of its nine state campuses. Each of these programs received additional funding, and at Florida A&M, the School of Architecture received this distinction.

Degree Programs

The Division of Architecture offers the NAAB professionallyaccredited bachelor and master of architecture degrees as well as the pre- and post-professional Bachelor of Science in architectural studies and the Master of Science in architecture-facility management degrees. The four-year pre-professional Bachelor of Science architectural studies (B.S.) degree of the FAMU School of Architecture is not accredited by NAAB. This pre-professional degree is preparation for either continued education in the professional degree programs or, secondarily, for employment options in architecturally related areas. The bachelor of architecture (B.Arch.), which requires a minimum of five years of study, and the master of architecture (M. Arch.), which requires a minimum of two years of study, follow a related pre-professional bachelor’s degree. The professional degrees are structured to educate those who aspire to architectural registration/ licensure. As a limited access program with a fixed facility, admission to the Division of Architecture is competitive.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

Master’s Degree

Minor

Architecture Minor