University's architecture students do well on professional exam

Figures released by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards for the June registration exam show the percentage of Mississippi State graduates passing in each category to be from 14 to 45 points higher than the national average. Graduates must pass the entire nine-part exam before becoming registered architects.

Architecture Dean John McRae said Mississippi State graduates "have consistently scored high" in comparison to other top regional and national programs. The exam is administered once a year in all 50 states, he added.

"This exam is a measure both of their preparation at school and their involvement as interns in professional offices," McRae said.

Terri Williams of Tupelo, president of the state Board of Architecture, echoed McRae's remarks.

"As far as what schools are doing for students (in professional preparation), Mississippi State's architecture school is way ahead," Williams said. "In fact, it has the architecture programs that the others come to see and that says a lot both for Mississippi and Mississippi State."

The Mississippi State School of Architecture has an enrollment of about 270 undergraduate and graduate students.

The undergraduate curriculum requires five years to complete. After four years of study on campus, students move to Jackson to spend the final year in an urban setting.