Students currently enrolled in the M.L.A. program.
M.L.A. in Landscape Architecture
Nationally recognized professional education.
The professional M.L.A. program at Penn State equips students with the techniques, principles, histories, theories, and technologies to become leaders in the profession of landscape architecture.
Program Application Deadline
The deadline for applications for AY 2022–23 is January 15, 2022.
To be assured full consideration, please apply by this deadline. Review individual program descriptions for details on program and admission requirements.
Earn a Master of Landscape Architecture at Penn State
Our mission is to do inspired work grounded in environmental and social good. Are you ready to join us?
The M.L.A. at Penn State provides real professional skills that prepare our graduates for real professional practice from the first day. The combination of a professional education from one of the top programs in the country with experience in research at a Tier-1 research institution means that you will be ready to hit the ground running upon graduation. This dual curriculum approach provides a strong foundation whatever your career aspirations: traditional professional practice, conducting research in a professional office, or teaching at a college of university.
Our M.L.A. degree is accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board (LAAB) and graduates are eligible to sit for the professional license exam (Landscape Architecture Registration Exam).
For those who already hold a B.L.A., the M.L.A. offers a curricular opportunity to turbocharge your professional skills by earning a certificate in Geodesign. Learn more.
Is the M.L.A. right for you?
Our competitive, rewarding, and highly ranked program is designed for students seeking professional training in landscape architecture.
The M.L.A. is open to a diverse array of starting points, including:
- Change-of-career students, new to design, who seek an accredited, professional education that prepares them to enter the practice of landscape architecture; for these students, time to degree is typically three years.
- Students who already hold a non-accredited design degree and seek an accredited, professional education that prepares them to enter the field of landscape architecture; for these students, time to degree is typically two and one-half years.
- Students who already hold an accredited bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and seek advanced breadth/depth of expertise; for these students, time to degree is typically two years.
Within our inspiring, LEED Gold-rated building, students have access to a specialized Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library, 24-hour access to our own cutting-edge computer studios, as well as a permanent studio desk for each student. All of this plus the additional benefits of attending a Tier 1 research institution.
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. (Available July 2020.)
Considering the M.L.A.? Consider this.
Our M.L.A. program is consistently ranked among the nation’s best by DesignIntelligence.
Our MLA develops creative insight and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed in practice.
You can customize your curriculum with geodesign, education abroad, and other opportunities.
Our 20 faculty are truly student-focused; you’ll get to know them well as mentors and colleagues.
Our collegial learning community fosters essential critical inquiry and confidence in our students.
Our close-knit community of 200 within a large university provides intimate yet vast opportunities.
M.L.A. Students
Current Cohort
Divya Manek
Research Focus: Wetland ecology
Academic Advisers: Andy Cole, Leann Andrews
divyamanek@psu.edu
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Guides + Resources
Level Up
Enhance your education by getting involved.
Research Centers and Initiatives
Stuckeman Center for Design Computing
A collaborative research and teaching studio-lab focused on developing and testing innovative computational design techniques.
Hamer Center for Community Design
The Hamer Center explores three key topical areas: design/build, community-based research, and public interest design.
E plus D (Ecology + Design)
A collaborative of designers and ecologists who undertake research activated design intervention that improves the ecological health of the designed world.
Assistantships and Fellowship Opportunities
Teaching Assistantships
Awarded as available on a competitive, semester-by-semester basis.
Research Assistantships
RAs are frequently available from our research centers or individual faculty on a competitive basis, as are grants-in-aid and graduate fellowships.
Fellowships
Fellowship opportunities exist both within Penn State and through external funding agencies.
Student Organizations
Landscape Architecture Student Society (LASS)
Focused on advancing the future of design within the community and the profession.
National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS)
Student branch of the National Organization of Minority Architects.
Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA)
Officially recognized by the University as the collective voice of the graduate and professional student body.
Alumni Spotlight
Alumni Spotlight
Demetrios Staurinos
B.L.A. in Landscape Architecture 2002Demetrios Staurinos, RLA, ASLA, is an associate at OLIN, a landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm with studios in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Demetrios has received awards from, among others, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association, and the American Institute of Architects and American Public Works Association. He is driven to improve the built environment by embellishing the “happy accidents” that occur when a thoughtful design meets the playful interactions of daily life.
M.L.A. national rank
7th
Become a steward of the environment. Earn your professional degree from the program that captured 7th overall in the 2019-20 DesignIntelligence Master of Landscape Architecture program rankings.
Faculty Spotlight
Stephen Mainzer
Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture
Stephen Mainzer’s research focuses on how human and natural systems intersect to inform how we govern, plan, and access natural resources, particualrly energy resources. As a key collaborator to the E+D (Ecology + Design) research initiative, he is leading the DDREAM (Deep Decarbonization and Renewable Energy in the Appalachian Mountains) project, which attempts to explore how the socio-ecological structure of Pennsylvania might inform a transition from fossil fuels to renewable solar energy, especially in post-coal Appalachian areas.
News from A&A
Stuckeman School researcher leads study of building emissions in cities
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Rahman Azari, associate professor of architecture in the Stuckeman School, is leading an interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers that is studying the emissions associated with
Architecture student draws from musical background to win thesis award
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Xi Jin, who recently graduated from the Stuckeman School at Penn State with a bachelor of architecture degree, was named the winner of the Department of
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Landscape architecture student receives grant for urban planning research
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Alyssa Humarang, a fourth-year landscape architecture student in the Stuckeman School, has been awarded a Student Engagement Network (SEN) grant to advance her research on the
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