Landscape Architecture

Landscape Architecture is the art of design, planning, or management of the land and of the natural and built elements upon it. As an academic discipline, it embodies creative, cultural, philosophical, and scientific knowledge bases. As a professional endeavor, the practice of landscape architecture includes site design, urban design, master planning, community planning, regional planning, resource conservation, and environmental and social stewardship.

Master of Landscape Architecture (M.L.A.)

The M.L.A. program is an accredited professional degree program focused on preparation to practice Landscape Architecture for students who hold a bachelor's degree in another field. The Master of Landscape Architecture program prepares students to enter the profession of Landscape Architecture. It provides individuals who do not already have a practice-oriented design degree with a professionally accredited education in landscape architecture. The program prepares graduates for entry into professional offices or further study in Landscape Architecture or related disciplines.

M.S. in Landscape Architecture

The Master of Science in Landscape Architecture is a 2-year program that provides enhanced professional/scientific expertise to individuals who hold a professionally-accredited degree in Landscape Architecture or in Architecture. It’s a great opportunity for those who seek to gain research skills, whether for professional practice or as preparation for success in academic positions.

This research-focused degree lets you work with outstanding faculty across Penn State on a targeted research agenda that may range from Landscape Performance Assessment to Built Environment and Active Living to Integrative Conservation—you and your adviser craft a tailored curricular path to suit your goals.

Admission Requirements

Applicants apply for admission to the program via the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School application for admission. Requirements listed here are in addition to Graduate Council policies listed under GCAC-300 Admissions Policies.

To be admitted to the program, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• For admission to the M.L.A. program, applicants must have completed a bachelor's degree from any discipline prior to entry into the M.L.A. program.
• For admission to the M.S. in Landscape Architecture, applicants must have completed a bachelor's degree in Landscape Architecture or a closely related discipline.

All submissions for admission must include:

• Evidence of creativity (portfolio or other), evidence of analytical ability (research paper or other), and an essay explaining why the individual seeks to study landscape architecture at Penn State
• Official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended.
• GRE scores
• 3 letters of recommendation

Scores from the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), or from a comparable substitute examination, are required for admission.

Students with a 3.00 junior/senior average (on a 4.00 scale) will be considered for admission. The best-qualified applicants will be accepted up to the number of spaces available for new students. Exceptions to the minimum 3.00 grade-point average may be made for students with special backgrounds, abilities, and interests, at the discretion of the program.

The language of instruction at Penn State is English. English proficiency test scores (TOEFL/IELTS) may be required for international applicants. See GCAC-305 Admission Requirements for International Students for more information.

Degree Requirements

Master of Landscape Architecture (M.L.A.)

Requirements listed here are in addition to Graduate Council policies listed under GCAC-700 Professional Degree Policies.

The M.L.A. curriculum develops creative insight and the knowledge, skills, and abilities essential to professional practice, fulfilling the education requirement needed in all states to be eligible to take the Landscape Architecture licensing examination. Students in the M.L.A. degree program must also develop research understanding characteristic of graduate education, undertaking a research-based design project as a final cumulative experience to demonstrate their understanding and application of appropriate and professional research and design expertise.

The M.L.A. curriculum requires completion of 57 credits of graduate work at the 400, 500, or 800 level, including a minimum of 47 credits at the 500 or 800 level, with at least 6 credits at the 500 level. In addition, to fulfill the requirements of professional accreditation, students must undertake 15 credits of prerequisite courses that do not count towards the M.L.A degree requirements.

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Requirements for Professional Accreditation (Prerequisites):
LARCH 60	Cultural History of Designed Places	3
LARCH 145	Ecology and Plants I	3
LARCH 276	Human Dimensions of Design: History & Theory	3
LARCH 365W	Contemporary Trends in Landscape Architecture	3
LARCH 386	Professional Practice	3
Total Credits		15

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The final culminating experience for the M.L.A. is a capstone project completed while enrolled in LARCH 551, LARCH 552, and LARCH 553.

Master of Science (M.S.)

Requirements listed here are in addition to Graduate Council policies listed under GCAC-600 Research Degree Policies.

The core curriculum is a two-year research-focused program requiring a minimum of 40 credits including a minimum of 18 credits at the 500 or 600 level. Students are required to take graduate level coursework, including 12 credits of Graduate Seminar, 4 credits of Graduate Colloquium, 3 credits of Research Writing in Landscape Architecture, 3 credits in Intellectual History and Theory of Landscape Architecture, 3 credits in quantitative/qualitative analysis at the 500 level (which must be approved in advance by the student's adviser and/or the graduate program professor-in-charge), and at least 6 credits in thesis research (600 and 610). The student and the student's adviser, subject to the approval of the departmental Graduate Program Committee, determine specific course requirements. The thesis must be accepted by the adviser(s) and/or committee members, the head of the graduate program, and the Graduate School, and the student must pass a thesis defense.

Dual-Titles  

Dual-Title M.S. in Landscape Architecture and TRANSDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ON ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements listed in GCAC-208 Dual-Title Graduate Degree Programs.

Graduate students with research and educational interests in landscape architecture or a closely related discipline (e.g., architecture, geography, ecology, anthropology, etc.) may apply to the dual-title M.S. degree in Landscape Architecture and Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society Program. The goal of the dual-title M.S. degree Landscape Architecture Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society is to enable graduate students from Landscape Architecture to acquire the knowledge and skills of their major area of specialization in Landscape Architecture, while at the same time gaining the perspective and methods of Transdisciplinary Research on Environment and Society. 

Admission Requirements

Students must apply and be admitted to the graduate program in Landscape Architecture and The Graduate School before they can apply for admission to the dual-title degree program. After admission to their primary program, students must apply for admission to and meet the admissions requirements of the TREES dual-title program. Refer to the Admission Requirements section of the TREES Bulletin page. Doctoral students should enroll in a dual-title graduate degree program early in their training, and no later than the end of the fourth semester (not counting summer semesters) of entry into the graduate major program.

Degree Requirements

To qualify for this dual-title degree, students must satisfy the requirements of the Landscape Architecture Master of Science degree program, listed on the Degree Requirements tab. In addition, they must satisfy the TREES program requirements for the dual-title master’s degree. Refer to the Master’s Degree Requirements section of the TREES Bulletin page. Some courses may satisfy both the graduate primary program requirements and those of the TREES program. Final course selection, including which courses will satisfy the both the graduate major program and dual-title program requirements, is determined by the students with approval by their dual-title program advisers and their major program advisers.

For the dual-title M.S. degree in Landscape Architecture and TREES, the thesis must reflect the student’s education and interest in both Landscape Architecture and TREES. All members of the student’s committee must be members of the Graduate Faculty. The master’s committee must include at least one Graduate Faculty member from TREES. Faculty members who hold appointments in both programs’ Graduate Faculty may serve in a combined role.

Integrated Undergrad-Grad Programs

Integrated B.L.A. in Landscape Architecture and M.S. in Landscape Architecture

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements listed in GCAC-210 Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate (IUG) Degree Programs.

The integrated undergraduate-graduate (IUG) degree program (B.L.A. in Landscape Architecture/M.S. in Landscape Architecture) provides an opportunity for strong students in Penn State’s Landscape Architecture B.L.A. program to complete a master’s degree with 6 total years of study (the B.L.A. is a 5-year program).

Admission Requirements

Applicants apply for admission to the program via the Graduate School application for admission. Requirements listed here are in addition to Graduate Council policies listed under GCAC-300 Admissions Policies.

The number of openings in the integrated B.L.A. /M.S. program is limited. Admission is selective based on specific criteria set by the Department of Landscape Architecture (see below). Before applying to the Graduate School, students must have completed entrance to their undergraduate major and have completed no less than 60 credits. Students must be admitted no later than the end of the second week of the semester preceding the semester of expected conferral of the undergraduate degree. Transfer students must have completed at least 15 credits at Penn State to enroll in an IUG.

Admission Requirements:

1. Must be enrolled in the Landscape Architecture B.L.A. program. 
2. Must apply to, and be accepted into, The Graduate School and the M.S. program in Landscape Architecture. Students must complete the Graduate School application.
3. All applicants will submit GRE scores, three letters of recommendation, and a personal statement addressing their reasons for pursuing a graduate degree in Landscape Architecture and discussing their plans and goals.
4. An applicant will be expected to have a minimum overall GPA of 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) in undergraduate coursework and a minimum GPA of 3.5 in all coursework completed for the major. 
5. A plan of study must be included identifying undergraduate credits to be applied to the M.S. degree elective requirements.

In consultation with both the Undergraduate Academic Advisor in the Stuckeman School and the Graduate Coordinator in Landscape Architecture, the applicant should prepare a plan of study that covers the entire time period of the IUG program. The plan should be reviewed periodically with both the Undergraduate Academic Advisor in the Stuckeman School and the Graduate Coordinator in Landscape Architecture.

Degree Requirements

Students must fulfill all requirements for each degree in order to be awarded that degree, subject to the double-counting of credits as outlined below. Degree requirements for the B.S. in Landscape Architecture are listed in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Degree requirements for the M.S. degree are listed on the Degree Requirements tab. The program will accept 5 credits of LARCH 414 from students in the IUG program, in lieu of 3 credits of LARCH 510 and 3 credits of LARCH 590. Students in the IUG program must also take an additional 1 credit elective to meet the 40 credit minimum required for the degree.

Up to 14 credits may be double-counted towards the degree requirements for both the graduate and undergraduate degrees; a minimum of 50% of the double- counted courses must be at the 500 or 800 level. Independent study courses and credits associated with the culminating experience for the graduate degree cannot be double-counted.

Students must sequence their courses so all undergraduate degree requirements are fulfilled before taking courses to count solely towards the graduate degree. Students are expected to complete the undergraduate degree requirements within the typical time to degree for the undergraduate major. In the semester in which the undergraduate degree requirements will be completed, IUG students must apply to graduate, and the undergraduate degree should be conferred at the next appropriate Commencement. If students accepted into the IUG program are unable to complete the M.A. degree, they are still eligible to receive their undergraduate degree if all the undergraduate degree requirements have been satisfied.

Minor

A graduate minor is available in any approved graduate major or dual-title program. The default requirements for a graduate minor are stated in Graduate Council policy GCAC-218 Minors.

Student Aid

Graduate assistantships available to students in this program and other forms of student aid are described in the Tuition & Funding section of the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School’s website. Students on graduate assistantships must adhere to the course load limits set by the Fox Graduate School.

Courses

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 699 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

Landscape Architecture (LARCH) Course List

Professional Licensure/Certification

Many U.S. states and territories require professional licensure/certification to be employed. If you plan to pursue employment in a licensed profession after completing this program, please visit the Professional Licensure/Certification Disclosures by State interactive map.

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