Undergraduate Degree

Established in 1898, the undergraduate Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program provides a diverse learning experience which strives for balancing ideology, design, technology, art and science toward creating a sustainable and resilient world. The program curriculum prepares students to be responsible landscape architects and fulfilled individuals with a breadth and depth of professional knowledge, bridged with the employability skills to advance in practice. Graduates master the scientific evidence-based approach in creating design solutions across scales with the integration of art, science and human interaction, applying their knowledge to diverse and immersive project types from local to international settings.

The program includes professional courses in design theory and graphic communications, environmental perception, history, and plant materials and their uses; technical aspects of site development, design applications for representative land uses; site planning for typical projects; community planning, housing and recreational development; and urban and regional design and planning.

The program offers meaningful opportunities and challenges within the classroom and on community projects, which prepare the student to communicate through writing, speech and graphics. The Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program at Michigan State University has been accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board (LAAB) since 1952.

Honors Study

Students interested in honors programs in landscape architecture should consult with an academic advisor.

Admission

The number of students who can be admitted as sophomores to the landscape architecture major is limited. To be admitted to the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program, the following factors will be taken into consideration:

1. Completion of 28 credits.
2. Submission of a completed Landscape Architecture application package by the deadline specified by the School.
3. Achieve a grade of 2.0 or higher in the following core Landscape Architecture courses:
   1. LA 140 Graphics and Two-Dimensional Design Studio
   2. LA 141 Graphics and Three-Dimensional Design Studio
   3. LA 200 Introduction to Landscape Architecture
4. Completion of the University, College and School mathematics requirement referenced in item 2. b. (2) below.
5. Completion of PDC 120 Planning and Design Digital Graphics.

Admissions are determined by the faculty on the basis of the relative qualifications of applicants and the enrollment capacity in the program. Admission is competitive. Transfer students and students with 28 or more credits who want to change their major to Landscape Architecture may have previous design work evaluated by the program prior to placement in landscape architecture second-year courses and above.

Requirements for the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Degree in Landscape Architecture

1. The University requirements for bachelor's degrees as described in the Undergraduate Education section of this catalog; 130 credits, including general elective credits, are required for the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree in Landscape Architecture.
   
   Students who are enrolled in the Landscape Architecture major leading to the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree in the School of Planning, Design and Construction may complete an alternative track to Integrative Studies in Biological and Physical Sciences that consists of the following courses:  Plant Biology 105, an ISP course and ISP laboratory.  The completion of the ISP course and ISP laboratory satisfies the laboratory requirement.  Plant Biology 105 may be counted toward both the alternative track and the requirements for the major referenced in item 2. below.
   
   The completion of Mathematics 116, or Mathematics 103 and 114, or Mathematics 103 and Statistics and Probability 200 or 201 referenced in requirement 2. below may also satisfy the University mathematics requirement.
   
   The University's Tier II writing requirement for the Landscape Architecture major is met by completing Landscape Architecture 480.  That course is referenced in item 2. c. below.
2. The following requirements for the major:

   a.	A minimum grade of 2.0 in all Landscape Architecture courses referenced in requirement 2.c. below.
   b.	Collateral Courses (30 to 35 credits):
   	(1)	All of the following courses (22 credits):
   		HRT	211	Landscape Plants I					3
   		HRT	212	Landscape Plants II					3
   		HRT	311	Landscape Design and Management Specifications					4
   		ISS	310	People and the Environment (I)					4
   		PDC	120	Planning and Design Digital Graphics					2
   		PLB	105	Plant Biology					3
   		UP	424	Geographic Information Systems and Design Tools for Planning					3
   	(2)	One of the following groups (5 to 7 credits):
   		(a)	MTH	116	College Algebra and Trigonometry				5
   		(b)	MTH	103	College Algebra				3
   			MTH	114	Trigonometry				3
   		(c)	MTH	103	College Algebra				3
   			STT	200	Statistical Methods				3
   			or						4
   			STT	201	Statistical Methods
   	(3)	Students must demonstrate AutoCAD proficiency through transfer credit, waiver or completion of the following course (0 to 3 credits):
   		IDES	240	Computer-Aided Design for Designers					3
   	(4)	One of the following courses (3 credits):
   		EC	201	Introduction to Microeconomics					3
   		EC	202	Introduction to Macroeconomics					3
   c.	Landscape Architecture Courses:  All of the following courses (61 credits):
   	LA	140	Graphics and Two-Dimensional Design Studio						4
   	LA	141	Graphics and Three-Dimensional Design Studio						4
   	LA	200	Introduction to Landscape Architecture						3
   	LA	230	Site Construction Materials and Methods						4
   	LA	231	Landscape Site Engineering						4
   	LA	242	Creating Space Studio						4
   	LA	243	Place Making Studio						4
   	LA	332	Advanced Landscape Site Engineering						4
   	LA	344	Connections of Scale Studio						5
   	LA	345	Design Development Studio						5
   	LA	390	Landscape Architecture Field Studies						3
   	LA	421	Drawing as Knowing						4
   	LA	447	Juried Design Studio						5
   	LA	448	Regional Environmental Design Studio						2
   	LA	449	Landscape Architecture Design Studio						3
   	LA	480	Professional Practice in Landscape Architecture (W)						3
   d.	Directed Electives (14 credits):
   	A minimum of 14 additional credits in courses approved by the student's academic advisor and program director. Courses that are used to satisfy the University Integrative Studies and writing requirements may not be used to satisfy this requirement. Courses used to satisfy the AutoCAD proficiency requirement referenced in item 2 b. (3) above may not be used to satisfy this requirement.