Architecture schools gain accreditation by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). Accredited schools must meet minimum standards in architectural education, which ensures that the program provides a professional and quality experience for students. NAAB has a search feature on its website to find accredited schools by name, location and degree type.
Architects work in various areas, from environmental and green building to roadway construction and landscaping. Thus, the degree depends on what skill level the architect requires for employment. Four- to five-year undergraduate study programs are required to work in the field of architecture. Graduate programs offer even more opportunities as most states require a master's degree to become licensed. Once students complete an accredited master's program, they take the Architectural Registration Examination, then gain a license to practice once passed.
Every university has a specific curriculum, but in general, courses teach the fundamentals of architecture, branching into environmental and conservation construction to form and natural systems of buildings. Students also take courses in architectural history, representation, urban building, structures, materials, form and technology. Curricula allow students to pick their own courses, which allows for a focus within the program. For example, Illinois Institute of Technology allows students to take architecture electives in topics such as digital imaging, theory, landscape, advanced drawing, photography, visual training, energy conscious design and other independent studies.
Since architects design various places to live, work and play, internships are an integral part to their hands-on education. Internships provide career-related experience, and there are co-op programs that become paid internships for architecture students. For example, North Carolina State University has full and part-time internships in the summer to involve students in the architecture career field of their choice. These careers include architect at a private architectural firm, preservationist at a historic preservation society, urban or regional planner in government or project manager for a general contractor.
Along with gaining experience, internships help with job placement once students graduate because they gain references or even a position within the company where they interned. Architecture colleges often have job placement offices to recruit students into successful architect firms. For example, Philadelphia University partners with many employers such as IKEA and Ewing Cole, which guarantees almost 90 percent of their architecture graduates receive job placement upon completion.
James Cramer of the Greenway Group is a leading architect who assembles the national rankings of architecture schools every year. As of 2010, the top undergraduate architect school was Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, ranks as the top graduate program in the country. For even further rankings, including the rest of the top 10 and a break down by skill and focus, the full list is available at Architectural Record. (See "Resources")