Career Discovery

Visit the ASLA Career Discovery page for information on becoming a landscape architect. This page contains stories about landscape architects, videos about landscape architecture and architects, a PowerPoint presentation on the profession, a downloadable brochure on landscape architecture as a career, links to Bureau of Labor Statistics on the profession, results of ASLA’s annual graduating student survey, examples of great landscape architecture, and a coloring book for the younger set.

Schools

The Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) is a specialized agency that accredits educational programs leading to first professional degrees at the bachelor’s or master’s level in landscape architecture in the United States and its territories. Use the map to locate schools by state. Programs are identified by degree: BSLA or BLA for undergraduate programs, MLA for master’s programs. LR (last review) is the date of the last complete review by LAAB. IR (initial review) is the first review of a program. NR (next review) is the date of the next scheduled complete review. The maximum term for LAAB accreditation is six years.

Candidacy programs are emerging programs that are not yet eligible to apply for accreditation. Candidacy programs have made a commitment to apply for initial accreditation within one year of their first graduating class.

Accreditation and Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB)

Accreditation is a nongovernmental, voluntary system of self regulation and self-evaluation. Accreditation can be sought at both institutional and specialized levels. Institutional accreditation is concerned with the institution as a whole; specialized accreditation with a specific program. The institution or program conducts a self-study to evaluate how well it is meeting its educational objectives. The accrediting agency then provides an independent assessment of that evaluation.

The Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) is a specialized accrediting agency that accredits educational programs leading to first professional degrees at the bachelor’s or master’s level in landscape architecture in the United States and its territories. In addition to assessing how well a program meets its own specific and institutional education mission and objectives, accreditation evaluates all programs against standards that ensure the educational components leading to entry level professional competence. These standards are developed by consensus of the community of interest and are regularly reviewed and assessed. LAAB is created in the ASLA bylaws as an autonomous committee and includes three members of the public, one representative each from the American Society of Landscape Architects, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture and Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards. The LAAB is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and is a member of the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors.

Visit the LAAB page to find:
LAAB accreditation standards and procedures, including candidacy process
Visiting Team Guidelines
LAAB news

Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA CES)
A collaboration of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards, Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board, and the Landscape Architecture Foundation.

Landscape architects and related design professionals can now access hundreds of continuing education courses registered online from more than 130 approved providers with the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA CES), a new, collaborative online tool.

Offering educational opportunities focused on water conservation, stormwater management, green roofs, accessibility, smart growth, soils, and materials – as well as professional applications such as CADD and GIS – LA CES provides one-stop shopping for courses on sustainable design, livable communities, and environmental planning.

LA CES offers courses covering a range of topics, including:

• Business Practices/Contracts/HR
• CADD/GIS
• Campus Planning and Design
• Design/Build
• Green Roofs
• Health Care and Therapeutic Design
• Historic Preservation
• Horticulture/Plants
• Housing and Community Design
• Parks and Recreation
• Project Management
• Residential Design
• Rural Landscape
• Security Design
• Site Planning
• Sustainable Development and Design
• Transportation
• Urban Planning and Design
• Water and Stormwater Management.

Many of the LA CES courses deal with some facet of sustainable design, and 25 jurisdictions in the United States and Canada now accept courses offered by LA CES providers for continuing education credit. At the LA CES website, visitors can search for courses by topic, location, date, and educational provider, and can also search specifically for designated health-safety-welfare and distance learning offerings. Downloadable participant records are also maintained for LA CES registered courses.

The Committee on Education (formerly the Council on Education) shall provide guidance and direction to the Board of Trustees on matters relating to education policy; accreditation of professional degree programs; administrative and legislative program support; establishment of new programs; growth in program enrollments; and employment trends. Changes in education policy and accreditation standards to be endorsed or recommended by the Society shall require an affirmative vote by a majority of the Board of Trustees present and voting.

The Committee on Education has researched and published the following papers:

Models of Education (2008) 
Growing the Profession (2007)
White Paper on Faculty Diversity (2005)

The ASLA Professional Practice Committee has developed a report on mentoring programs:

Landscape Architecture Mentoring Programs (2011)