Landscape Architecture
The UNLV Landscape Architecture program is designed to prepare students for entry into the profession of landscape architecture as well as to pursue a wide range of graduate study options. It is our mission to offer a professionally accredited degree program in landscape architecture that focuses on the planning and design of healthy environments. The mission guides our commitment to education, community outreach, and the complex planning and design challenges that face extremely arid regions.
Program Commitment
Our graduates will be well-prepared to significantly contribute to a complex and ever-changing global society. Likewise, they will be positioned to skillfully apply the values of integrity, respect, collaboration, innovation, and sustainability. By cultivating these values, we actively commit to launching future leaders who will confidently embrace the professional practice of landscape architecture while equally recognizing their capacity to boldly pursue a wide range of graduate study opportunities.
Our Core Values
Our mission statement reflects our program’s commitment to creating a working and learning environment where faculty and students value a collaborative and forward-thinking approach to developing:
- A commitment to nurturing social, economic, environmental, and physical health in a way that promotes equity, diversity, and inclusiveness;
- A rigorous expectation of what learning and success mean;
- Innovative ideas through the use of research, scholarship, and creative activity;
- An entrepreneurial, inventive, and progressive approach to planning and design;
- A strong understanding of the relationship between the profession of landscape architecture and the context within which it is being applied;
Upon completion of the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree program, students will be able to achieve the following curriculum learning objectives as they align with the course learning outcomes related to competencies in the knowledge, skills, and abilities within the profession of landscape architecture.
Objective 1: Design Development
Students will understand and incorporate the design process and its principles to refine topical ideas as they relate to the professional practice of landscape architecture.
Objective 2: Design Evidence/Relevancy
Students will be able to examine the spectrum of historical and relevant design ideas derived from evolving social, political, economic, cultural, environmental, technical, and theoretical contexts.
Objective 3: Professionalism
Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to work within larger collaborative systems amongst their peers, professionals, stakeholder groups, and the community demonstrating needs to manage, advocate, and act legally, ethically and critically for the good of the client, society, and the environment.
Objective 4: Design Evaluation
Students will demonstrate competency in applying qualitative and quantitative measurables to evaluate the performative outcomes of their designs through environmental, social, and economic benefits.
Objective 5: Technical Documentation
Students will demonstrate competency in the application of a wide range of appropriate design tools, material systems, and technical applications related to the buildability of landscape architectural design elements.
What Is Landscape Architecture?
Landscape architecture embodies the art and science of design, planning, and management of the land, including the natural and man-made elements upon it. Landscape architects plan and design places such as parks, golf courses, campuses, gardens, resorts, and transportation corridors. They also design and plan the restoration of natural places that have been disturbed by humans, such as wetlands, stream corridors, mined areas, and forested land. Landscape architects typically work with architects, city planners, civil engineers, and other professionals to design and build projects that value the needs of both people and our environment.
Landscape architecture in Nevada is defined by the arid landscape, importance of tourism, gaming and related activities, and a fundamentally pragmatic approach to solving problems. Most U.S. states’ landscape architecture registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The Landscape Architecture Accrediting Board is the accrediting agency for landscape architecture degree programs. UNLV’s Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree is fully accredited by LAAB.
Accreditation
LAAB-accredited programs are required to provide reliable information to the public. Programs must report on accreditation status and its performance. This information is to help potential students make informed application decisions.
Tuition & Fees
The Board of Regents of the State of Nevada approved a proposal in December 2010 for the School of Architecture at UNLV to implement differential tuition to the Upper Division Courses of the School’s four degree granting programs effective Spring 2012. Please refer to the Board of Regents Manual, Section 7, on Differential Fees for a breakdown of the additional costs associated with these programs. Get an overview of college costs and more specific architecture costs by selecting Advanced Search on the Tuition Estimator.
Retention Rates
Percentage of degree-seeking BLA students who entered the program during the Fall 2022 semester and returned during the Fall of 2023 semester: 100 percent.
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Degrees Earned
- 2022 - 2023: 12
- 2021 - 2022: 14
- 2020 - 2021: 14
- 2019 - 2020: 12
- 2018 - 2019: 5
- 2017 - 2018: 4
Post Graduation Status
From 2018 to 2023, 61 students graduated from the Landscape Architecture and Planning Program. Employment sectors of these graduates include:
- Graduate Education
- Private Practice
- Government Practice
- Landscape Horticulture
- Design-Build
Licensed Faculty
In addition to various and wide-ranging academic expertise amongst our faculty, we currently employ 5 licensed faculty members.
Additional Information
To learn more about landscape architecture, visit the American Society of Landscape Architects website.