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M.L.A. in Landscape Architecture

Nationally recognized professional education.
Department of Landscape Architecture

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.

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Program Application Deadline
The deadline for applications for AY 2024–25 is January 15, 2024.

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.

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.

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:

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.

 

https://bulletins.psu.edu/graduate/programs/majors/landscape-architecture/#admissionrequirementstext

Degree Requirements

https://bulletins.psu.edu/graduate/programs/majors/landscape-architecture/#degreerequirementstext

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

 

https://bulletins.psu.edu/graduate/programs/majors/landscape-architecture/#coursestext

Applying

How to Apply

Accreditation + Program Stats

Accreditation: Penn State Landscape Architecture Programs

Questions? Contact Program Administrator

https://secure.gradsch.psu.edu/gpms/program/programDetail.cfm?program=LARCH

View Our Annual Department Award Winners

https://sites.psu.edu/larchawards/

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.

Two students discussing a landscape architecture design project pinned up on wall for review.

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 faculty members 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

Students currently enrolled in the M.L.A. program.

Current Cohort

Jonathan Berlin

Jonathan Berlin

jjb7274@psu.edu

Saman Ebrahimi

ske5291@psu.edu

Keith Faminiano

Keith Faminiano

kff5223@psu.edu

Trinity Farrare

tuf40@psu.edu

Nina Flores

Nina Flores

clf5523@psu.edu

Sarah Gaffney

smg5395@psu.edu

Samual Hunter

swh5679@psu.edu

Andrew Kuka

Andrew Kuka

atk5340@psu.edu

Pegah Mombeini

pmm5990@psu.edu

Somdeep Nandy

Somdeep Nandy

szn5411@psu.edu

Mohammad Rezvan

Mohammad Rezvan

mfr5731@psu.edu

Jingkun Zhang

jjz5374@psu.edu

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Sadiqua Ansari
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Mack Drzayich
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Alex McCay
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Lara Garcia
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Leslie Hendricks
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Yuhang Hu
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Yao Ma
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Shengwei Tan
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Jie Yang
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Yiru Zhang
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Guides + Resources

Graduate Student Handbook

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

"A well-rounded M.L.A. program, solid mentorship, and a generous scholarship to support fieldwork in India sparked my interest in research and eventually drew me to academia."
Priyam Das

Alumni Spotlight

Priyam Das

M.L.A. in Landscape Architecture 2000

Priyam Das is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. She studies water governance in the global South, focusing on problems of inequality, poverty, and disenfranchisement. Other research interests include urban form and resilient design.

Web manoa.hawaii.edu/durp/faculty/#priyam-das
Villagers Laying sewer pipes in Indore, India.
Community mapping in Dong Van, Vietnam.
Women and children at a public standpipe in Gwailor, India.

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

Wu Hong, at right, documents findings of water samples at a run-off on the University Park campus in a notebook while a fellow researcher collects a water sample and two students watch.
Wu Hong, at right, documents findings of water samples at a run-off on the University Park campus in a notebook while a fellow researcher collects a water sample and two students watch.
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Hong Wu

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Stuckeman Career Development Assistant Professor in Design

Hong Wu is leading a team of interdisciplinary researchers in the development of a living laboratory for green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) research, education, and innovation at Penn State thanks to funding through the University’s Strategic Plan Seed Grant program. With partners from the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, Sustainability Institute, Office of the Physical Plant, Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Penn State Harrisburg, and the Borough of State College, it is Wu’s vision to position Penn State as a national leader in GSI by building a campus community with the capacity to implement long-term cost-effective solutions to water quality and quantity. She is key member of the E+D (Ecology + Design) emerging research center and an elected member of Penn State’s Water Council.

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Portrait of Hong Wu

News from A&A

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Interim architecture department head to retire after 35 years at Penn State
Dan Willis, interim department head and professor of architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School, is retiring June 30 after 35 years at Penn State.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A strong drive to always learn more has been one of the defining elements of Dan Willis’ career at Penn State. Willis, interim department head and


Read More

Architecture IUG student named undergraduate thesis award winner
Holly Zimmerman was named the winner of the Department of Architecture’s 2023 Paul M. Kossman Design Thesis Award for her project that focuses on designing the walls of a building
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Strategic city planning can help reduce urban heat island effect
New Penn State research suggests that certain urban factors can reduce the tendency of cities to trap heat — a phenomenon called the “urban heat island."
Read More
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