History & Accreditation

The College of Architecture and the Built Environment evolved from a single interior design course in 1980 to its current status with enrollment of over 800 Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation, Construction Management, Sustainable Design, Geodesign, Real Estate Development and Interior Architecture majors in 5 undergraduate, 8 graduate programs and 2 online programs.

In 1982 the Interior Design Program officially began and by 1991 a professional Bachelor of Architecture Program officially began with eighty first-year students. The program continued to grow, until the 2004-2005 academic year when the University divided the School to create the School of Architecture and the School of Design and Media.

A Landscape Architecture program was added to the School of Architecture in 2005 to provide for instruction in design of the environment. The long-standing pre-professional Architectural Studies program offers fields of study related to the built environment in concentrations such as Architectural Design Technology and Historic Preservation. Construction Management is the most recent undergraduate addition to the school having just started in the fall of 2011.

In 2007 the School established its first graduate program in Sustainable Design, followed by subsequent programs in Construction Management in 2009, Interior Architecture in 2011, Geodesign in 2013, Architecture in 2014, Real Estate Development in 2017 and Historic Preservation in 2019. These programs are housed in the SEED Center, a LEED-rated building converted from an existing athletic gymnasium.

As part of a university restructuring in 2011, the school became the College of Architecture and the Built Environment and celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Interior Design Program and the 25th anniversary of the Architecture program in 2016.

Architecture

The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) program and the Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) program are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).

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Construction Management

The Bachelor of Science in Construction Management program at Thomas Jefferson University is accredited by the Applied and Natural Science Accreditation Commission (ANSAC) of ABET ABET-ANSAC evaluates 4-year Construction Management programs to approve that “Graduates of Construction Management programs will have the knowledge, as well as the technical, administrative and communication skills, necessary to succeed in the construction industry.” The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program, BS in Construction Management emphasizes the importance of a rich and productive collaboration between construction, project management and design.

Interior Design

The four-year Bachelor of Science in Interior Design program at Jefferson is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).

The field requires extensive knowledge of design, human behavior, construction, material, product and lighting technologies, building codes and much more. In many jurisdictions in North America, these professional responsibilities have led to certification or licensing of interior designers, and as part of that, testing by the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ). To assure that interior design graduates are ready to assume the demands of the profession and are prepared to sit for the NCIDQ Exam the CIDA has developed rigorous educational standards. Achievement of CIDA accreditation of an interior design program confirms to the public the quality of the program; “that the program meets the rigor of peer review and develops the skills and knowledge required to practice interior design.”

Landscape Architecture

The Landscape Architecture Program is fully accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board (LAAB)  The 4-year Landscape Architecture Program is committed to providing leadership in confronting issues that affect urban neighborhoods and ecological systems.