It can be very difficult to evaluate a college degree program for any subject area and landscape architecture is no different. In this article, I will review 6 key factors that you should consider when looking for future schools in landscape architecture. At the bottom of the article, I also provide a grading rubric which helps streamline this process and formalize your assessment in a single, easy to utilize document.
Factor #1: Fundamentals of Curriculum
Well, this one is pretty easy for anyone to understand. You want to ensure that the curriculum, specifically within the major, is properly aligned with the industry and your own professional goals. For the most part, most landscape architecture programs (either BLA or BSLA) will have similar core components to their curriculum; however, they may diverge on a few key criteria that may “make or break” your decision to pursue them further.
A few questions to ask yourself when reviewing their curriculum are:
- Does the school teach the fundamentals of construction (materials, equipment, environmental impact, construction documents, infrastructure components)?
- Does the course work include business management topics? (project scheduling, budgeting, client relations, presentation skills)
- Does the program review key software program during formal class time or do the instructors expect students to learn it themselves?
- How do the program-specific courses relate to the general education requirements of the larger university?
From a recent Design Intelligence survey of landscape architecture professionals, 42% of respondents stated that most landscape architect graduates (combining Bachelor’s and Master’s) had an inadequate understanding of constructability, while 48% of respondents claimed it was an “important” or “very important” consideration when hiring a new graduate.
So before you plunge into the next 5 considerations for Landscape Architecture programs, it is important to investigate the type of program curriculum you will need to complete and self-reflect on your needs as a potential student.
Factor #2: Faculty Experience & Research
What value is the curriculum without effective teaching? The faculty at your future university are key resources for developing a deep understanding of the profession and fostering a love for the field of landscape architecture.
University landscape architecture programs may specialize in different aspects of the discipline. This will be apparent not only within the curriculum but also from the research interests and backgrounds of their faculty. When looking into a program, ask yourself these questions:
General Considerations
- How many full-time versus adjunct faculty teach within the program?
You want to make sure there is a good balance of both. Adjunct faculty are essential for grounding the courses in current professional practice, while full-time faculty are the best resources for personal, professional, and academic counseling. Additionally, full-time faculty will most likely have ongoing research projects which you may find interesting.
- What are the professional qualifications of the faculty?
It is important to know the teaching and professional background of the faculty members at the university level. Currently, the landscape architecture discipline is at an interesting divergence where the requirements for licensure in landscape architecture do not necessarily align with the requirements for teaching landscape architecture.
Dive deep into the professional qualifications of the faculty to ensure they’ve done some professional work in landscape architecture (and if not, that’s ok, just be sure that the program has a well-developed adjunct faculty pool.)
- What is the average rank and tenure of the faculty members?
This is a tricky subject, but one I feel needs to be discussed. Depending on your program, you should want to see a healthy balance of young emerging professors (non-tenured, assistant rank) and well-seasoned professors (tenured, full professor rank).
Younger professors will most likely have more energy and openness to try new things, along with a better appetite for technological capabilities, but the tenured faculty will be much better teachers in general, having honed their craft over decades of instruction.
- What is the faculty-student ratio for the program?
This isn’t necessarily a large issue within the landscape architecture world, as programs fluctuate in enrollment, but you want to make sure that you don’t get lost in the weeds (pun intended).
A good faculty-student ratio will ensure that you get personal advising and instruction of the best quality.
Considerations Specific for Master’s or Ph.D. Candidates
In addition to the general considerations for most Bachelor’s candidates, Master’s degree students will want to consider other questions when reviewing a future program. These include:
- What are the current research and publication proposals of the faculty members?
- What types of studio projects will the faculty be leading?
- How engaged are the faculty with the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (or other relevant academic organizations)?
Factor #3: Career & Professional Assistance
If you haven’t already watched my video on my journey within the profession, I talk a bit about how unprepared I was for the actual professional world of landscape architecture as a newly minted Master’s graduate. Now, it didn’t help that I had graduated right during the housing crisis, but the lessons I learned during those difficult years are the reason I teach – so it will not happen to others.
You want to dive deep into your research on the capabilities, offerings, and guidance of the faculty or staff within the program and how they prepare students for a career in the field. There are many ways that you can do this, without specifically speaking with the institution (as, from my experience, no program will tell you they have poor placement!)
So how do you get good, honest feedback on the “readiness” you will have upon graduating from a potential Landscape Architectural program?
Here are a few things to consider doing:
- Contact the state’s chapter of ASLA and ask about their relationship with the program or faculty. Do any of the faculty actively participate in their committees? Are the members of the committee invited for critiques or as guest speakers? A good relationship with the state chapter means a healthy connection to the professional sector.
- During your visit, go into the studio and speak with students on what internships they have completed or where they will be working after graduation? Have they been on any interviews?
- Ask to see student work on construction documentation or specifications. Usually, programs will showcase the seductive high-end Lumion graphics that may look beautiful for a competition entry, but what you should be asking yourself is “does the program teach the student how to build it?”. A program that has relevant student work showcasing their ability to develop construction documents will always be a leg-up on those that do not.
Factor #4: Studio Environment
If your undergraduate or graduate work was anything like mine – 90% of your time is in the studio working on projects, getting desk critiques, or just hanging out with friends.
The studio atmosphere is something I cherish. There is nothing quite like it in education, working with other designers in an open space to share ideas, talk about industry topics, and explore the field of landscape design.
When you are choosing a potential college program, be sure to take a good look at the studio space, how it is organized, and the activity going on within it.
Besides the general attractiveness and spaciousness of the workspaces, you should hopefully see lots of students working (assuming you are going during the semester). Additionally, if you see personalized studio spaces in which students hang pictures. display models, or keep their books, this is a very good sign of active use and a creative space. Typically, the messier the better from a design standpoint.
When I visit colleges and see sterile empty studio spaces with just a handful of tools or drawings on the desk, it is a red-flag that students don’t spend much time there.
The orientation and layout of the desks within the studio is something that will change for each college, but shouldn’t be a deal-breaker to your decision of which school to choose. If anything, the more open the studio space, the more likely you will get student interaction between courses.
Factor #5: Tools, Technology, & Other Resources
Effective design education requires effective design tools and technology. When you are reviewing future design schools, you want to ensure they have the best resources available to help you meet your academic and professional goals.
Most schools will have a dedicated computer lab with numerous stations available to utilize all the required industry software, which may include AutoCAD, Vectorworks, Land F/X, Adobe Suite, Rhino, Sketchup, Lumion (the list goes on…). If school is in session, peek your head into the lab and do a quick count of the number of computer stations and the number of students currently using them. Depending on the time of year, you want to see a fair amount of open computers. (Note: During the end of the semester, when final critiques are looming, you may not see ANY open stations, that is just a result of final semester projects being completed.)
Besides computers, you also want to make sure the students within the program have access to other types of tools to best explore their design ideas. A few quick items to look for:
- Is there 3D printing available for concept models? Or a CAD/CAM Workspace?
- Do the students have access to a woodworking shop?
- Are there painting stations (with proper vent hoods) for students that are doing aerosolized rendering?
- Are there light-tables for tracing over hand-drawn designs?
In addition to these equipment resources, you will also want to find out about any gardens or arboretums on or near campus. As landscape architects, we deal with plants quite a bit, so programs often will have dedicated learning gardens or plant specimens through which they teach. Go explore them and give an eye to their upkeep.
Factor #6: Travel Abroad Programs
At the time of this writing, most students are working through their curriculum completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I do not have a crystal ball and will not suggest study-abroad experiences will be offered in the same capacity as they have previously been. However, design students who are exposed to different environments, cultures, and experiences outside of their campus are typically going to have a more well-rounded understanding of the landscape architecture discipline.
Check to see if your potential degree program offers study abroad experiences and how they function. While an undergraduate, I was lucky enough to take a studio semester off and complete an architecture course while abroad in Italy. My designs and creativity progressed tremendously after this experience due to my exposure to a new discipline with new faculty, in a new location. After coming back to the campus, it was a treat to share this knowledge with my classmates and learn from them about their own travel experiences.
Tracking Your Evaluation
I realize that keeping all of these factors in your head when visiting a campus can be daunting, so I created a simple spreadsheet to help track all of the items discussed above. You can download it here.
My final word of advice is not geared toward the specific school, but rather the specific person. Take a moment to fully consider the options available to you and your future professional goals to ensure landscape architecture or design is the right field for you.
Two resources I highly recommend purchasing are “Becoming A Landscape Architect” and “101 Things I Learned in Architecture School” – both will help you gain a much better understanding of the breadth of the academic and professional design world, before sinking a semester’s worth of money towards university education.
If you are interested in Landscape Design and Landscape Architecture, please also look at the other articles on this site, which include “Essential Books For Landscape Designers” and “Three Unique & Rewarding Areas for Landscape Architects”.
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