The Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure Program at Savannah College of Art and Design fast-tracks architecture students to become licensed professionals when they graduate.

School: Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)
Course: Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure Program (IPAL)
Location: Savannah, Georgia, USA
Course dates: ongoing
Application deadline: continuous enrolment

SCAD is at the forefront of architectural education in the US, selected by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards as one of the 14 inaugural universities nationwide to implement the Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL).

Starting in the first year of their university careers, IPAL students begin accruing Architectural Experience Program hours and engage with intensive academic coursework. Through an innovative combination of 10-week academic quarters and extended breaks between quarters, IPAL students have the schedule flexibility to gain real-world experience at professional firms.

In the classroom, SCAD provides students with the academic foundation necessary to take the Architectural Registration Exam (ARE) during the graduate studies portion of the IPAL degree track. The result of this holistic and fully integrated effort is that SCAD architecture students graduate as professionals with a license to practice architecture and become immediately productive in the field.

IPAL at SCAD is a prestigious and rigorous academic track, merging all three components of architectural licensure — education, experience, and examination — into the university's existing Bachelor of Fine Arts and professional Master of Architecture programs. Through this structure, driven students may obtain licensure in as few as seven years.

SCAD is a global architecture education leader thanks to its award-winning degree programs, accomplished faculty, cutting-edge resources, international locations, and stellar alumni employment rate.

In June 2023, SCAD conferred degrees to the inaugural graduating class of the distinguished IPAL program. The university is proud to recognize these deserving students and their successful completion of the prestigious program, an achievement that further distinguishes the SCAD architecture program.

These recent alumni – Jeffrey Rose (MArch, 2023), Ellen Filiatreau (MArch, 2023), and Nicolas Barrera Castaneda (MArch, 2023) – will be continuing their vibrant careers at architecture firms in Georgia, New York and North Carolina. Each alumnus will pursue opportunities that allow them to stretch their creativity in design, functionality and community-centered architecture.

Applications to this course have now closed.

Top image: The Apex, by BFA architecture student Rasmus Salomonsson, 2017.

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