Archinect - News

Architectural Association in London can now award master's and bachelor's degrees

2019-10-11T15:15:00-04:00

The Architectural Association (AA) in London has been granted the power to award bachelor's and master's degrees for the first time in its history.

Despite boasting a formidable roster of globe-trotting alumni, including Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Florence Knoll Bassett, Richard Rogers, and others, the institution has never been fully accredited. The school's academic offerings have been validated by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Architects Registration Board, Dezeen reports, but until now, was unable to officially award degrees. That has changed as of October 1, 2019.

The change took over six years to come into being and takes effect as the new AA director Eva Franch i Gilabert begins to leave her mark on the 172-year-old institution, England's oldest independent school of architecture.

Eva Franch i Gilabert. Image © Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd

According to a press release issued by the AA, the school's new Taught Degree Awarding Powers (TDAP) will all...

NCARB opens up official certification to much wider field of architecture students

2017-02-14T18:50:00-05:00

If you didn't get a degree from a NAAB-accredited program, but have spent years accumulating Architectural Experience Program-worthy hours, you may now receive an official NCARB certification. How? Well, the details are spelled out in the press release below, but think of it as a potential reward for years spent working in the field while trying to pay for your education so you could work in the field. Some call it The School of Hard Knocks; others, "practical experience." Now feast your eyes on the full release:

NCARB Streamlines Path to Certification for Architects
Architects without a degree from an accredited program can pursue NCARB certification through a new path.

Washington, DC—The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has launched the first phase of its revised certification path for architects without a degree from a program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). The NCARB Certificate facilitates reciprocal licensure among t...

Fast, cheap and... accredited? "Competency-based" higher-ed

2013-10-29T21:11:00-04:00

What if you could earn a degree as quickly or slowly as you can learn, regardless of whether you plodded through 80 hours in a classroom lecture? That could be the next wave of higher education, as schools come under more pressure to cut costs while proving the value of expensive degrees and competing with the growing number of high-quality free online courses. Call it the decoupling of instruction and testing.

"Competency-based education" is the radical new initiative where students pay institutions (pending admittance) a flat, per-semester rate to attend whichever college courses they like. Degrees are awarded when a student passes a "competency" test, regardless of how many units they took or how well they performed in class.

The University of Wisconsin, one of several institutions to develop this type of educational format, is set to launch its highly scrutinized "Flex-Option" pilot program this November. The program targets adults who have yet to acquire a bachelor degree, which could mean drastically altering the demographics of higher education, as well as grade-based degree systems. The model could also help turn the process of school-degree-job on its head, as students can overstep course-requirements by using work experience to pass department tests.

The experimental option only extends to a few bachelor programs, but will certainly expand if successful. Should this apply ...