The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) recently recognized kitchen and bath design students with the 2012 NKBA Outstanding Student Awards, while also presenting three NKBA-accredited colleges with the 2011 Excellence in Education Awards. The NKBA announced these prestigious honors during the Educators’ Forum at the NKBA’s 2012 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in Chicago.

Three NKBA-accredited colleges were awarded the Excellence in Education Award by demonstrating the highest standards of kitchen and bath instruction. Each program submitted two student kitchen design projects, which were judged using the NKBA Planning Guidelines and NKBA Graphic and Presentation Standards. Each of these three schools awarded met the NKBA’s challenging goal of earning an average score of at least 93 out of a possible 100 on its two student designs.

The winning schools and their kitchen and bath design program coordinators are:

The NKBA Outstanding Student Awards

Additionally, the NKBA recognized the top kitchen and bath design students at NKBA-accredited colleges across North America by rewarding top students with a $100 scholarship. Schools with kitchen and bath design programs accredited by the NKBA each selected a student to honor this year.

The top design students are:

Ellen Peterson                               Alexandria Technical & Community College

Elizabeth Long                               Arapahoe  Community College

Jennifer Murray-Huffman             Baker College of Clinton Township

Gayle McCaughin                          Brevard Community College

Kimberly Fetzer                             Bringham Young University-Idaho

Kirsten Malone                              Canada College

Elizabeth A Mottashed                  College of DuPage

Sara Gerdes                                   Harper College

Courtney Federspiel                     Lakeland College

Jamey Cunningham                     MSU-Gallatin College

Eric Poulsen                                   San Diego Mesa College

Roberta Vincent                             Sullivan College of Technology & Design

                                           Emily E Moore                              University of Nebraska & Kearney

                                          Jessica Brown                              University of Southern Mississippi

                                          Brittany Usiak                               Virginia Tech

                                          Shalin Tucker                                Weber State University

NKBA Accreditation

NKBA accreditation is available to two- and four-year colleges, universities, and technical institutes throughout the United States and Canada with kitchen and bath degree or certificate programs that meet the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s standards. By becoming NKBA accredited, these schools show prospective students that they provide consistent, quality education in kitchen and bath design.

There are currently more than 60 schools that have either earned NKBA accreditation or have achieved the intermediate NKBA supported status. To determine eligibility, NKBA-accredited programs are evaluated with respect to mission, administration, curriculum, faculty, and resources in their ability to meet required student competencies.