Welcome to the 2024 edition of NCARB by the Numbers!
Every year, NCARB by the Numbers shares key data that shapes the architecture community. This year’s report marks our 13th year of offering clear and reliable insights into the state of architectural licensure. As always, we have continued to enhance and expand the data presented in this publication in new, innovative ways.
In partnership with our members, the 55 U.S. architectural licensing boards, we have used the data from previous NCARB by the Numbers to inform several improvements along the path to licensure as NCARB continues its work toward removing unnecessary programmatic and administrative barriers.
In 2023, NCARB retired the exam’s 5-year rolling clock validity policy, replacing it with a new policy validating all passed exams from the current and immediately preceding version of the exam.
Through adding time for English as Second Language (ESL) candidates and other exam accommodations along with addressing exam content with disparate failure rates, NCARB continued to explore fair and defensible means of ensuring accessibility for all candidates in 2023.
2023 was also the first full year where we could assess the value of NCARB’s free practice exams, which launched midway through 2022.
Together, these changes have resulted in a significant increase in exam pass rates, as well as a 5-month reduction in the average time to complete the exam.
As we have worked to expand opportunity and access, those improvements are reflected in improving equity and diversity at every level of the licensure path. We’ve seen significant improvements in diverse racial and gender representation over the past 5 years: in 2023, 47% of the licensure candidate population identified as a person of color, and 46% were women. That change is slowly making its way into the licensed practitioner population. Nearly a third of new architects in 2023 were people of color, compared to just 19% of the total architect population.
The unique demographic insights that NCARB by the Numbers offers into the professional pipeline continue to be a major draw for reviewing and utilizing this annual publication. To ensure this data is easy to read and digest, this year’s report format has been streamlined to elevate the key data points shaping the architecture community. We’ve updated several sections to allow you to dive deeper into the data that means the most to you, while continuing to provide a clear view of data in each stage of the licensure path.
We will continue using the information gathered in NCARB by the Numbers—as well as insight from our members, customers, volunteers, allied organizations, and the public—to address today’s societal and economic challenges to the regulatory environment and to uphold our vision to ensure safe spaces and places for all communities.
Michael J. Armstrong
Chief Executive Officer
National Council of Architectural Registration Boards