The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) committed to timely passage of the National Design Services Act (NDSA), which will give architecture students the same relief from crushing student loan debt, which is already granted young lawyers, doctors and others – in return for community service.
The bipartisan legislation, H.R. 4205, was introduced by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and co-sponsored by Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL).
“Millions of young people aspire to help their communities build a better future – but a lack of opportunity and the crushing cost of education hold them back,” said AIA CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA. “As a result, the design and construction industry faces a severe shortage of talent at exactly the moment America needs to rebuild for the future.
“We commend Congressman Perlmutter for recognizing this issue, for introducing the NDSA and for enlisting his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to work for its ultimate passage,” Ivy said. “I promise that they will have the full resources of the AIA as well as the architecture student community behind them when more than 600 AIA members convene in Washington, D.C. next week as part of the AIA’s annual grassroots conference.”
"The National Design Services Act will help promote sustainable economic development and jobs by ensuring aspiring architects are able to gain valuable experience while giving back to their communities designing public projects such as schools, health clinics, housing facilities and libraries,” said Rep. Perlmutter. “In return, the bill will alleviate some of the barriers new students face as they pursue their dreams in architecture."
“There is no shortage of enthusiasm in our membership for passing this bill,” said Joshua Caulfield, Chief Executive Officer of AIAS. “And we intend to leverage that enthusiasm to the hilt as we go forward and call on our members of Congress.”
Student debt is one of the most critical issues facing the economy – not to mention the next generation of design professionals. Roughly 40 million Americans owe $1.2 trillion in student-loan debt, an amount that surpasses every other type of household debt except mortgage debt. Architecture student graduates come out of school with approximately $40,000 in student loan debt, ranking architecture as one of the disciplines with the highest loan balances in the country.
The NDSA eases this burden by providing loan assistance to architecture students and recent graduates who contribute their design services to underserved areas. The bill would authorize the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a program allowing architecture students to work with Community Design Centers in exchange for assistance with their student loans.
As a result, communities will receive a broad range of architecture services that may not have otherwise been available, and architecture graduates will be induced to stay in the profession.
At a recent meeting of AIAS Milwaukee-Wisconsin where AIA National staff discussed the proposal, architecture students immediately began organizing a phone bank for students to call their members of Congress to urge them to support the bill.
One young architect, Evan Litvin of Philadelphia, has launched an online petition that enlists the support of architects nationwide for speedy passage of the NDSA. The link to that petition can be found here.
Related Stories
| Jul 1, 2013
LEGOLAND builds 12-foot replica of One World Trade Center
The LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester in Yonkers, N.Y., celebrated the completion of a LEGO replica of One World Trade Center by lighting the 12-foot-tall, 100-pound model.
| Jul 1, 2013
Report: Global construction market to reach $15 trillion by 2025
A new report released today forecasts the volume of construction output will grow by more than 70% to $15 trillion worldwide by 2025.
| Jul 1, 2013
Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, elected 2015 AIA President
Delegates to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national convention in Denver elected Elizabeth Chu Richter (AIA Corpus Christi) to serve as the 2014 AIA first vice president/president-elect and 2015 AIA president.
| Jun 28, 2013
Calculating the ROI of building enclosure commissioning
A researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory calls building enclosure commissioning “the single-most cost-effective strategy for reducing energy, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in buildings today.”
| Jun 28, 2013
A brief history of windows in America
Historic window experts from Hoffmann Architects look back at the origin of windows in the U.S.
| Jun 28, 2013
Building owners cite BIM/VDC as 'most exciting trend' in facilities management, says Mortenson report
A recent survey of more than 60 building owners and facility management professionals by Mortenson Construction shows that BIM/VDC is top of mind among owner professionals.
| Jun 27, 2013
Thermal, solar control designs can impact cooling loads by 200%, heating loads by 30%
Underestimating thermal bridging can greatly undermine a building’s performance contributing to heating load variances of up to 30% and cooling load variances of up to 200%, says the MMM Group.
| Jun 26, 2013
New York’s ‘Scaffold Law’ may be altered to place larger burden on workers
New York's Scaffold Law, which “places the burden of responsibility on the contractor to prove that the job site was safe for workers,” could be facing a major change.
| Jun 26, 2013
Commercial real estate execs eye multifamily, retail sectors for growth, says KPMG report
The multifamily, retail, and hospitality sectors are expected to lead commercial building growth, according to the 2013 KPMG Commercial Real Estate Outlook Survey.
| Jun 25, 2013
Mirvish, Gehry revise plans for triad of Toronto towers
A trio of mixed-use towers planned for an urban redevelopment project in Toronto has been redesigned by planners David Mirvish and Frank Gehry. The plan was announced last October but has recently been substantially revised.
