What is an architect license, and how do you get one?
Architecture is licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and the path is standardised through NCARB: earn a professional degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, complete the Architectural Experience Program by logging supervised hours across NCARB's practice areas, pass all six divisions of the Architect Registration Examination, and register with your state's architecture board. Only a licensed architect may use the title or stamp drawings. Architects earn a $99,280 median with a projected +3.9% outlook.
- Earn a NAAB-accredited professional degree (B.Arch or M.Arch).
- Open an NCARB Record and start logging AXP hours under a licensed architect.
- Pass all six divisions of the Architect Registration Examination.
- Apply to your state architecture registration board and pay its fee.
- Add the NCARB Certificate to register in other states, and renew with continuing education.
How to get an architect license
- 1
Earn a NAAB-accredited professional degree
Complete a Bachelor of Architecture or Master of Architecture accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. This is the standard route in most states; a small number allow a longer experience-based alternative, but it adds years and can complicate reciprocity later, so check your board before choosing it.
- 2
Open an NCARB Record and start the AXP
Create your NCARB Record and begin logging Architectural Experience Program hours under a licensed architect across the six practice areas — practice management, project management, programming and analysis, project planning and design, project development and documentation, and construction and evaluation. Many students start during school, which shortens the overall path materially.
- 3
Pass all six divisions of the ARE
Schedule the Architect Registration Examination divisions at Prometric in whatever order suits your experience. Each is passed independently and scored pass/fail on a scaled standard, and passed divisions stay valid for a rolling period, so sequence them deliberately rather than at random. Most candidates finish in two to three years while working.
- 4
Apply to your state architecture registration board
Submit the state application with your degree, verified AXP hours and ARE results, pay the board's fee, and complete any jurisprudence or state-law requirement. Once approved you are a registered architect and may use the title, offer services and stamp and seal drawings in that state.
- 5
Add the NCARB Certificate and renew
Obtain the NCARB Certificate if you expect to work across state lines — it is the mechanism nearly every board uses to grant reciprocal registration. Then renew on your state's cycle and complete its continuing-education hours, most of which must address health, safety and welfare topics.
Architect license requirements
The three requirements are consistent nationwide because NCARB standardises them, though each state board applies its own fees, jurisprudence and continuing-education rules on top. To register as an architect you generally need:
Education
A professional degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board — a Bachelor of Architecture or Master of Architecture — is the standard route in most states. A small number of states allow an experience-based alternative that takes considerably longer.
Experience (AXP)
NCARB's Architectural Experience Program requires documented hours across six practice areas covering practice management, project management, programming and analysis, project planning and design, project development and documentation, and construction and evaluation, all supervised by a licensed architect.
Examination (ARE)
Six divisions covering the same practice areas, taken in any order at Prometric test centres. Each division is passed independently, and NCARB applies a rolling clock to how long passed divisions remain valid.
State registration
Application to the architecture registration board in the state where you will practise, with fees, jurisprudence requirements and continuing-education rules set by that board rather than by NCARB.
How much an architect license costs
The exam and registration fees are modest next to the degree. NCARB and the state boards publish current figures, and both change, so treat the categories below as the budget lines rather than fixed amounts:
The professional degree is by far the largest cost in this profession, and it is the reason architecture has a slower payback than the licensed trades. NCARB publishes current ARE, Record and Certificate fees directly; state registration and renewal fees are set by each board.
The architect license exam
The Architect Registration Examination is administered by NCARB and delivered at Prometric test centres. It has six divisions — Practice Management, Project Management, Programming & Analysis, Project Planning & Design, Project Development & Documentation, and Construction & Evaluation — which can be taken in any order and are passed one at a time. Questions mix multiple choice with case studies and graphic-response items drawn from real practice. Each division is scored pass/fail against a scaled standard rather than a percentage, and NCARB applies a rolling validity period to passed divisions, so planning the sequence matters. Most candidates take two to three years to clear all six while working full time.
How long it takes to get licensed
This is a long path by design: five to seven years of accredited education, AXP hours logged concurrently and after, and two to three years of exams. Ten to thirteen years from first enrolment to registration is a realistic planning figure.
Architect license types: the full ladder
Architecture does not have a journeyman ladder. What it has is a pre-licence designation, the licence itself, and the NCARB Certificate that makes the licence portable, with optional specialist accreditations alongside.
Architectural designer (pre-licence)
The correct title for staff who have not yet registered. Works under a licensed architect, produces drawings and documentation, and logs AXP hours. May not use the title architect or stamp drawings.
AXP participant
Not a licence but the formal experience stage: an open NCARB Record with hours reported across the six practice areas and verified by a licensed supervisor. Most candidates begin during the degree.
Registered / licensed architect
The licence itself, issued by a state architecture registration board after the degree, AXP and all six ARE divisions. Authorises independent practice, use of the title, and stamping and sealing drawings.
NCARB Certificate holder
A national credential documenting that you meet the standard model requirements. It is the mechanism nearly every state uses to grant reciprocal registration, and the practical way architects practise across state lines.
Structural or specialist collaboration
Not a separate architecture licence: work requiring structural engineering must be sealed by a licensed professional engineer, which is why architects coordinate with, rather than substitute for, the PE.
Firm registration / certificate of authorisation
Many states also register the practice itself, requiring the firm to hold a certificate of authorisation with a licensed architect in responsible charge before it can offer services to the public.
Architectural designer vs Licensed architect: architect license
Architect license reciprocity between states
Architecture has the most orderly reciprocity system of any licensed profession, and it runs through the NCARB Certificate. Once you hold the Certificate — which documents that you met the standard education, experience and examination requirements — nearly every state will grant reciprocal registration, usually on payment of a fee and completion of a state jurisprudence or law requirement. It is not automatic: each board decides, a few states impose additional requirements, and architects who were licensed through an alternative route without the accredited degree can find the Certificate harder to obtain. Confirm with the destination board before committing to work there.
Architectsalary & job outlook
Architects earn a median of about $99,280 per year ($47.73/hour), and principals and partners reach well above that, while pre-licence designers sit substantially lower — which is the clearest financial argument for finishing the licence rather than stalling at the AXP stage. Employment is projected to grow 3.9%, with roughly 7,800 openings a year. See the full architect salary guide for pay by state, city and experience level.
Architect license requirements by state
Every state licenses architects and the NCARB path is common to all of them, so what varies is the board, the fees, the jurisprudence requirement and the continuing-education rules. Open your state's guide for those specifics.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia license architects; no state permits unlicensed practice or use of the title. What differs is each board's fee schedule, its jurisprudence or state-law requirement, its continuing-education hours (usually with a health, safety and welfare component), and how it handles reciprocity for NCARB Certificate holders. Confirm with the board before applying.
Browse all state guides
Architect license FAQs
NCARB, Architect Registration Examination (ARE) · NCARB, Architectural Experience Program (AXP) · National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 (17-1011) · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (Architects). Requirements and fees are set per state and change, confirm with your state board before applying.
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