"Today's demands require far more landscape architects than are available. The gap between demand and supply widens. The environment is being built hastily and too often without such professional advice or help. In the process, far too much is damaged beyond recall." -Landscape Architecture Foundation

Studying Landscape Architecture
Combining art and science, landscape architecture is a profession committed to creating healthy, enjoyable, and sustainable places for people and communities through design and planning.

Today landscape architects deal with the increasingly complex relationships between the built and natural environments. Landscape architects plan and design traditional places such as parks, residential developments, campuses, gardens, cemeteries, commercial centers, resorts, transportation facilities, corporate and institutional centers, and waterfront developments. They also design and plan the restoration of natural places disturbed by humans such as wetlands, stream corridors, mined areas, and forested land. Their appreciation for historic landscapes and cultural resources enables landscape architects to undertake preservation planning projects for national, regional, and local historic sites and areas.

Working with architects, city planners, civil engineers and other professionals, landscape architects play an important role in environmental protection by designing and implementing projects that respect both the needs of people and of our environment. Meeting human needs by making wise use of our environmental resources is work that is in demand today and will continue to be needed in the future.

Prospective students who hold degrees should investigate the specific aims and objectives of various graduate and undergraduate programs before deciding where to enroll. The Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board, an autonomous committee of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), is the agency that accredits first-professional degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the United States. Other degree programs, such as the second professional MLA, the MA/MS, and the Ph.D., fall outside the scope of LAAB accreditation.

How To Choose a School
Deciding what school to choose is often not an easy or clear-cut decision. There is no system for ranking landscape architecture programs. Besides, you want to find the best school for you. To choose a school, develop a list of questions that you can use to obtain information that will help you make a decision.

Questions for you:

• What are your goals and objectives?
• What has attracted you to landscape architecture?
• What type of firm do you want to work in after graduation?
• What type of projects do you want to work on?

Questions for schools:

• How would attending your program help me achieve my goals?
• Have any recent graduates had goals similar to mine? Can I contact them?
• What type of internship opportunities do your students have? How do they obtain internships?
• I'm particularly interested in [Fill in topic or topics of interest]. What opportunities would I have to learn about it at your school? Is any of the faculty really interested in this topic?
• Where do your students find jobs after graduation?

In addition to developing a list of questions, visiting a school, especially while classes are in session could be very helpful.

Professional Registration
At present, forty-six states register (or license) landscape architects. In states with "title acts," no one without a license may call him or herself a landscape architect. Under the provisions of "practice acts," no one without a license may perform the work of a landscape architect. Each state sets its own requirements for registration, but all require candidates to pass a national examination (the Landscape Architect Registration Examination, or LARE). Many states also require candidates to have completed an approved program of professional education and to practice for a time under the supervision of a licensed landscape architect. The Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB) develops and administers the LARE, and also maintains current information on the various states' licensing requirements.

Learning More About Landscape Architecture
Many books and journals are available to learn more about the profession. Prospective students should examine Landscape Architecture, a monthly magazine available in most university libraries and at some magazine stands, and Landscape Journal, a scholarly journal reporting research and scholarship. The Journal is available in most university libraries as is the international publication, Landscape and Urban Planning. The following are good introductory books:

Laurie, Michael. An Introduction to Landscape Architecture. New York: American Elsevier, 1975.
Marsh, William M. Landscape Planning, Environmental Application. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991.
Newton, Norman T. Design on the Land, The Development of Landscape Architecture. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard
Simonds, John O. Landscape Architecture. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983.