Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the requirements to become a licensed landscape architect is for the candi-
date to have earned an accredited landscape architecture degree, either a
four- or five-year degree in the case of a bachelor's degree, or a three-year
master's degree. Each state registration law governing landscape architec-
ture licensure may have other requirements, including a specified number
of years working under a licensed professional. The Landscape Architecture
Accreditation Board (LAAB) is a national board authorized under guidelines
promulgated by the U.S. Department of Education. It is the body that estab-
lishes the requirements and criteria for achieving accreditation through an
onsite evaluation process whereby a team of assigned evaluators deter-
mines if the standards for accreditation have been met. One of the
requirements of accreditation
1
is that a landscape architecture curriculum
(bachelor's or master's) offers instruction in grading and drainage, and that
this instruction leads—in the evaluation of student work—to prescribed
levels of mastery of grading and drainage topics.
table 2 .1
Steps toward Licensure
the GoaL
how to aChieve the GoaL
To be able to practice as and/or
call oneself a landscape archi-
tect and to be paid for services
rendered
1. A test called the Landscape Architecture Registration Examination (LARE)
must be passed in order to be eligible for state licensure to practice. The LARE
is developed and administered by the Council of Landscape Architectural Reg-
istration Boards.
2
Landscape architecture licenses are issued by each state.
To be eligible to take the LARE
licensure exam
2. The candidate must meet the following requirements:
2.1 Earned an accredited degree in landscape architecture
2.2 Satisfied the minimum years of internship under an approved list of
licensed professionals such as landscape architect, architect, or engineer
2.3 Have a satisfactory police record, such as not having committed a felony, and
meet other legal criteria (e.g., no record of noncompliance to child support)
1 Accreditation standards include the subject areas grading and landscape technology, design and
planning, history, plant materials and design, and professional practice. There a range of subset sub-
jects to each of these subject areas.
2 The LARE is a national examination administered by individual states but developed by the Council
of Landscape Architecture Registration Boards. The examination contains a set number of sections
that include: planning, design, grading and drainage, professional practice, history, and one or more
specialized requirements specific to each state. For instances, Alaska requires the candidate to have
successfully passed a course in arctic engineering, states in the West may require a section of spe-
cialized irrigation and plant material knowledge related to drought-tolerant conditions.
