MLA Curriculum
The MLA curriculum consists of design studios, support courses, core landscape architecture classes and student-selected electives. Students are admitted into one- to three-year programs of study, depending on their educational and professional backgrounds. Students with a non-design undergraduate degree enter a three-year curriculum track, with possible course exemptions based on their previous studies. Applicants with professional applied design degrees usually enter directly into the second year of study. Applicants with BLA or BSLA degrees and ten or more years of professional experience may enter in the third year, accelerating their studies with a one-year program focused on their specialization. Each student is evaluated individually, and will complete a curriculum built for their needs with the assistance of the graduate adviser and the MLA coordinator. The most common courses of study shown below.
3-Year First Professional Degree Program
2-Year Programs
In addition to taking broad required courses, MLA students develop an individual track that focuses on their particular interests in the field. Although students are not expected to fall squarely into a single category, the focus areas they can consider in tailoring their studies are as follows:
- Computer applications
- Ecological restoration & natural resource management
- Garden design & plant management
- General landscape design
- Golf course design
- Historic landscape preservation
- Human design & community participation
- Land development
- Landscape history and criticism
- Recreational and open space design
- Rural planning and preservation
- Urban design and planning
