Masters in Landscape Architecture in USA

The program encompasses the body of knowledge common to the profession of landscape architecture and promotes knowledge and skills necessary to enter professional practice. The learning goals to guide the program curriculum are:

1. Proficiency in Visual Communication
2. Proficiency in Verbal Communication
3. Identification of Natural and Cultural Systems
4. Knowledge of Computer Applications
5. Knowledge of Construction Materials, Methods, Technologies, and Applications
   1. Advance Written and Design Research and Communication

The Master of Landscape Architecture I degree in Landscape Architecture is a professional program that prepares graduates for active, creative and leadership roles in landscape architecture profession through inclusive and interdisciplinary design methodologies that are focused on issues surrounding urban landscapes, ecologies and social concerns.

Students are engaged in issues — ranging from hydrology in the Great Lakes and Ohio River Basins watershed to the role of urban landscapes associated with industrial cities. In addition, they study matters of global significance relating to the role of landscape and design relative to reclamation of urban vacancies, infrastructural systems, natural resources, climate change, water quality for health and social justice and cultural landscapes.

The Department of Landscape Architecture offers the Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) degree, the Master of Sustainable Urban Design degree (MSUD), and the PhD degree. The programs enable students to gain fresh insights and to conduct new research pertaining to land and its use by people. Courses and faculty research activities range from on-site to regional scales, and include environmental planning and design as well as community design, cultural heritage, and history.

The MLA is an accredited first professional degree. Students may pursue specialized areas that reflect their interests and career aspirations. This may include ecological design, community design, and cultural heritage history and design. Joint MLA/MUP is available. 

The Program is designed to provide advanced students the opportunity to enhance their prior academic and/or professional work experience with focused study in design theory/history, environmental resources, urban infrastructure or urban sustainability. Students entering this program of study are encouraged to build their coursework from the wealth of courses in the other School of Architecture and Planning accredited graduate degree programs, architecture and city and regional planning, as well as form relevant departments throughout the University. This is a three-semester, 36-credit program for those who already possess a professional degree in landscape architecture from an accredited university in North America. The entering M.S.L.A. student is expected to exhibit a focused research area of study. The Department Chair and/or designated faculty advisor will work with students to craft a course of study meeting their advanced academic interest. For this reason, students are required to take LAAR 788 - Supervised Research their first semester in the program. Inclusive in the suggested curriculum listed below, students are required to take four elective courses that must meet the approval of the Department Chair and/or the designated faculty advisor.

The Master of Landscape Architecture has an emphasis in ecological landscape restoration. Program objectives are to educate students to become capable practitioners with knowledge of a specialty area of the discipline; to educate practitioners who are trained to think critically and creatively about each ecological situation; and to develop a body of knowledge through research, long-term monitoring of restored landscapes, and comparison of methods upon which current and future professionals can draw.