ACCREDITATION

The professional degrees awarded by the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), the B.Arch and M.Arch (offered through the M.Arch 1 and M.Arch 2 programs), are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

NAAB Accreditation

The NAAB states that 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 US 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, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.

Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a preprofessional undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.

WASC Accreditation

SCI-Arc is also accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), 985 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 100, Alameda, CA 94501, (510) 748-9001, www.wascsenior.org.

Institutional and academic amendments undertaken in support of these accreditations may be viewed on my.sciarc.edu, SCI-Arc’s intranet. The SCI-Arc Portal is a digital meeting place for the institute’s community.

State Authorization (BPPE)

SCI-Arc is a private institution and is approved to operate by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) of the State of California. An approval to operate means compliance with state standards as set forth in the California Private Postsecondary Education, Act 2009.

An individual may contact the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE) of the State of California for a review of any complaint:

Address: 2535 Capital Oaks Drive, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95833 Tel: (916) 431-6924 Fax: (916) 263-1897 Website: www.bppe.ca.gov

SCI-Arc offers the following NAAB-accredited programs:

B.Arch

166 undergraduate credits

M.Arch 1

Undergraduate degree + 108 graduate credits

M.Arch 2

Undergraduate degree + 78 graduate credits

Next NAAB accreditation visit for all programs: 2025-2026

Next WASC accreditation visit for all programs: 2023-2024