Become a Landscape Architect

LAAB: Mission, Identity and Values

ASLA 2013 Student Collaboration Honor Award Recipient. X-Scape. Brett Berger, Student ASLA; Aaron Choi, Student Affiliate ASLA; Christine Phu, Student Affiliate ASLA; and Diego Valencia, Student ASLA, Arizona State University. Faculty Advisor: Philip Horton / Student Team

Mission

The mission of the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) is to evaluate, advocate for, and advance the quality of education in landscape architectural degree programs.

Identity

LAAB is the accrediting organization for landscape architectural degree programs. As such, LAAB develops standards to evaluate landscape architectural degree programs objectively and judges whether a school’s landscape architectural degree program is in compliance with the accreditation standards.

LAAB is composed of landscape architecture practitioners and academicians, representatives from landscape architecture collateral organizations and representatives of the public. The collateral organizations are the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB) and Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA).

Values

To achieve its mission, the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board seeks to:

• hold itself to high standards and ethical behavior.
• uphold the standards it establishes in a non-punitive manner.
• support diversity in all its many forms.
• promote self-examination and self-analysis of programs and curriculum.
• aspire to achieve educational excellence as a predicate to professional excellence.
• encourage education that prepares students to succeed in a changing world.

Diploma and Accreditation Mills  

What is a ''diploma mill?" Why should you avoid them? And how can you tell if a degree program has no value?

Diploma mills," also known as "degree mills," tend to have drastically lower requirements for academic coursework, with some even allowing their students to purchase credentials without any education.
Students may be required to purchase textbooks, submit homework, and take tests, but degrees are nonetheless conferred after little or no study.
 
Diploma mills are motivated by profit and often claim accreditation by non-recognized or unapproved accrediting bodies ("accreditation mills") set up for the purposes of providing an appearance of authenticity.

Avoiding Diploma and Accreditation Mills

Several national and international bodies publish lists of accreditors that are known to lack the necessary legal authority or recognition. Most legitimate accrediting organizations in the United States are recognized by either the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) or the U.S. Department of Education.