Click here to view the Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning  graduate program page.

Landscape planning and design have been part of the curriculum at Kansas State University since 1871, being part of the required curriculum of all students in the early days of the institution. The first MLA student graduated in 1968. The degree is offered through two tracks:

• The non-baccalaureate track for students without a previous degree allows students to enter as freshmen and progress through the professional graduate degree in landscape architecture
• The post-baccalaureate track for students with a previous degree allows completion of a first professional degree in landscape architecture.

The MLA program is fully accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Program definition

Our definition of advanced landscape architecture education includes development of a strong foundation of traditional knowledge and skills as well as self-motivated and defined scholarship. Throughout the program, we are committed to research as a means of learning and serving communities and individuals.

Graduates of our program practice in a wide variety of natural and built environments including urban, suburban, rural, wilderness, domestic, and international. Their practice takes place in small and large firms, multidisciplinary firms, design/build, land development, facility management, public practice, academic settings, and within other fields. Kansas State University MLA graduates provide leadership in and advocacy for stewardship of the land and the interface of people with the land. They seek longterm solutions concerning land health, human dignity, and aesthetic quality.

Program mission and objectives

We prepare graduates to be leaders in the field of landscape architecture by integrating student learning with faculty research and creative pursuits and engaging with partners in communities and other disciplines. Through these activities we significantly advance the discipline of landscape architecture. We blend our understanding of ecological and societal needs to design, plan and manage the interface between humans and nature to shape environments in ways that benefit both through critical thinking, design processes and implementation. Focused on preparation for professional practice, we are highly skilled, diligent, passionate people dedicated and working together in vertically integrated studios that are collaborative and energetic.