On Friday, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) announced their endorsement of a new path for architecture students —licensure upon graduation from an accredited program. Developed by the Licensure Task Force, a group comprised of leaders from NCARB, AIA, AIAS, NAAB and ACSA, this new track would integrate internship and examination requirements into the years spent completing a professional degree in architecture.

This proposal would offer certain benefits, among them, shortening the timeline to licensure for students who know their career path in advance and adding more opportunities to bring people into the profession early in their educational careers. “While licensure upon graduation may not work for all schools or all jurisdictions,” said ACSA president Norman Millar, “we laud NCARB’s collaborative process with schools, students, and the profession to facilitate licensure.”

Millar, who represents ACSA on the Licensure Task Force, anticipates that this new opportunity will encourage collaboration between educators and members of licensing boards and the profession, allowing for more conversations about the goals and missions of architecture programs.

Schools will have the chance to participate in the pilot program later this year through a Request for Information, followed by a Request for Proposals in 2015. “We look forward to an open process that allows architecture programs in any U.S. jurisdiction to work with their boards to see if their mutual interests can be advanced” says Millar.