Issues & AdvocacyIssues & Advocacy

Rough economies like the one we’ve been in since the Great Recession can do real damage to the hopes of young people starting out in the career of their choice. As commencement season approaches this year, the media will be rife with stories about how difficult it is for college graduates to find a job in the career for which they have been trained. Add the student loan burden that students carry upon graduation – an average of roughly $25,000 per capita nationally – and it’s no wonder many kids abandon their chosen field for quick money and a job – any job.

The one saving grace for students in this situation is that in many fields – law, medicine or education – they are eligible for debt assistance if graduates agree to donate time to a worthwhile cause on a pro-bono basis in their chosen field of expertise.

No so in my chosen field, architecture. At a time when the nation’s infrastructure is in dire need of repair, the graduating architectural student has few opportunities to donate his or her expertise – and gain valuable on-the-job experience – in return for student loan assistance or relief. And that’s why my professional association – the American Institute of Architects (AIA) – as well as the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) are pushing for legislation that includes architecture school graduates in the same programs that offer other graduates loan assistance or relief in return for providing pro-bono services to the community.

The AIA/AIAS initiative comes as the AIAS this month releases a survey of almost 600 architect school graduates that shows graduating architecture students carrying a much higher amount of undergraduate student debt - $40,000 - than the national average. The survey also found that architecture students face a large amount of hidden costs that are not part of the listed tuition fees of a program. Specifically, the survey showed that architecture students spend more than $1,000 annually on materials for models and project submissions.  Textbooks amount to another $800 per year, and technology spending accounts for an additional $1,500 per year. Thus, over the course of a 4 year Bachelor’s program, most students will spend an additional $13,200 in related school costs, with a six-year Master’s course of study leading to $19,800 in these types of expenses.

It’s no wonder then that 54% of our respondents to the AIAS survey said that by the end of 2 years of not working in Architecture they would stop pursuing licensure. And that development – a possible brain drain of talented architects from the profession - poses great public policy issues for communities across America. As buildings become more complex, we need young architects to remain in the profession to design them. And at a time when the hard-hit design and construction sector is trying to recover, a lack of qualified architects on hand will slow the ability of construction to move forward.

The AIA and AIAS are not asking for a handout. We want legislation that enables architecture graduates to use their talents in underserved communities in exchange for loan assistance, just as Congress has provided for doctors, lawyers, teachers and others. The return on this investment will go a long way towards insuring that the architectural profession in the U.S. remains pre-eminent in the world.

Joe Smith is President of AIA-(state)

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