Mississippi's only professional school of architecture is earning a renewed stamp of approval from a national accrediting agency.

The School of Architecture, established at Mississippi State in 1973, has received a five-year reaccreditation from the National Architectural Accrediting Board.

NAAB is the only agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, said Dean John McRae.

"Because most states require that applicants for licensure have graduated from an NAAB-accredited program, this recognition means that MSU meets strict requirements and that our students are fully prepared to become contributing members of the profession," he said.

Accreditation is awarded when programs meet standards in a dozen areas, including education, physical resources, financial resources, and student performance, among others.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, MSU's architecture program is a national leader in integrating computers into the curriculum.