Challenging? Yes. Ridiculous? I don't agree.
This chart shows that the average graduate architect achieves licensure at around 30 years of age, after 6 years of school and six years of internship and practice, with some overlap for exams.
What would you want to reduce? Education? We need educated professionals whose capabilities will ultimately make them leaders on complex teams and in their communities. Practice prior to licensure? Not many are ready to shoulder the responsibility of professional independence even once they obtain licensure. So why rush?
Would you want someone sealing the drawings on your building at age 28? 26?
A well rounded practitioner - one who can speak, write, research, analyze, design, and lead teams as well as simply assemble drawings and take exams, takes this long to get there, and then some. Some take longer due to employment and financial challenges. Some may shave a year off of the timeline. But what we do is so complex and broad, there should not be a terrible rush to get that seal. We all needed some time to "shave on someone else's beard" first. So do today's emerging professionals. The one's I've been working with in our client firms give me a great deal of confidence in the future of our profession.
------------------------------
Philip Kabza AIA
Partner
SpecGuy Specifications Consultants
Mount Dora FL
------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 08-02-2017 17:50
From: Sally Anne Smith
Subject: NCARB - On average, it takes 12.5 years to become an architect
Latest from NCARB. Although an improvement from 15.6 years back 2008 this is still absolutely ridiculous.
------------------------------
Sally Anne Smith AIA
Smith Architectural Studio
Carmel CA
------------------------------