Ball State University's master of landscape architecture (M.L.A.) degree helps students build a career in one of the most diversified of the design professions. Our distinctive blend of hands-on learning, research, and practice prepares students from diverse disciplines to become landscape professionals who can integrate the needs of people and natural systems.

We welcome students from diverse undergraduate backgrounds, including those with degrees in the humanities, environmental studies and natural resources, Fine Arts, social work, interior design, urban planning, architecture, and others. For students with an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture, opportunities in research, advanced topics, and individualized programs are available.

This degree is fully accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board of the American Society of Landscape Architects, qualifying graduates to sit for the professional examination required to practice landscape architecture.

The MLA Program at Ball State

The Department of Landscape Architecture is nationally recognized as a leader in educating professionals who design for people and the environment. The Faculty  have unique interest areas that enrich the graduate program, and currently include design and creative expression at all levels and scales; sustainability, both cultural and ecological; social and historical issues in the built environment; digital and traditional methods of representation; and the ethics and ethos of the profession and landscape practice in today's world.

The faculty and program at Ball State University offer the graduate student opportunities to study and do thesis work in the following areas of strength:

Design informs everything we do. The program is well known for its excellent preparation of graduates to enter the profession as thoughtful practitioners. The tools of landscape architects – understanding landform and the movement of water, building with appropriate materials in resource-conservative ways, working with plants and ecosystems for low maintenance and meaningful aesthetics – are the core of the program. A foundation in digital technology methods for design and visualization is integrated in the curriculum, and considers where the profession will be in ten or twenty years. Graduates work in private and institutional practices at all scales of the spectrum as leaders and designers, from site scale to regional plans that address local identity and needs.

Environmental issues are an essential layer of the profession in which the Department has particular depth. Sustainable design affects community and regional planning, visualizing a future in which our environments encourage healthy living. It engages choices of building materials, planting design for sustainability, and on strategic integration with existing environmental and cultural systems. Faculty who work in this area participate in writing national LEED standards for Sustainable Sites, and make global connections with practitioners and students who are developing innovative solutions with lower impact on their settings and resources.

Cultural landscapes are embedded with our history and present-day lives, and are the contexts in which we make built work, at all scales. Landscape Architecture has a very long, global history, which our students study to understand how cultures used their landscapes, made places and imbued them with meaning. Cultural and historic landscapes exist both as physical manifestations, and through influences on literature, art, media, architecture and buildings. This is an exciting time for those interested in cultural issues in landscape, as there is new support for investigating, preserving and interpreting cultural and historical places.

The MLA program at Ball State is nationally-ranked and fully accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board of the American Society of Landscape Architects, qualifying graduates to become licensed to practice. The Department is committed to equip graduates to meet the present and future environmental challenges facing us as professionals, and as global citizens. In 2007 the faculty adopted the 2010 initiative to integrate sustainability issues into design education at all levels, increase ecological literacy, reduce consumption of fossil fuels, and move toward a carbon-neutral campus.

Benefits to students in the MLA program include a low student to faculty ratio, and extensive one on one instruction. Travel opportunities include national and international destinations, both for field study and to attend conferences. The College of Architecture and Planning has international and interdisciplinary field study programs and exchanges that expand multicultural awareness and understanding.  
(For more information on travel , see www.bsu.edu/cap/fieldstudy .)

The College and Department houses a number of research centers that enrich graduate study, among them the Land Design Institute, LandLab, and the Center for Energy Research/Education/Service. The College offers interdisciplinary opportunities in community design experience through its award-winning outreach programs such as Community-Based Projects, Muncie Urban Design Studio, and the CAP Indianapolis Center.
(For more information on resources in CAP, see www.bsu.edu/cap.)

Students are given intellectual autonomy in choosing a focus and subject for a thesis project in their final year – with the support and advice of faculty -- which engages both research and creative skills. Through a structured program of paid internships in professional offices, students also have the opportunity to develop a base of experience for a future in practice.
(For information about the alumni of the Department of Landscape Architecture, see www.bsu.edu/cap/landscape/alumni.)

Degree Programs
Ball State's Master of Landscape Architecture curriculum has three professionally accredited programs of study, all requiring a bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited college or university.

Program 1: Second Professional Degree (39 Credits)
For those with an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture from an accredited institution, this two-year program is intended to provide the opportunity for advanced specialization. View a course-by-course curriculum for this option.

Program 2: First Professional Degree (64 Credits)
For those who hold a degree in a related environmental design profession – architecture, interior design, or urban or regional planning – this two and a half year program of study is preparation to become a landscape architect. (46 hours of graduate credit; 18 hours of undergraduate credit).  View a course-by-course curriculum for this option.

Program 3: First Professional Degree (79 Credits)
For those holding a degree other than in an environmental design profession, this three-year program prepares students for a career in landscape architecture. (57 hours of graduate credit; 22 hours of undergraduate credit). View a course-by-course curriculum for this option.

NOTE: Both Programs 2 and 3 are structured for individuals seeking to enter landscape architecture practice. These two programs require students to take foundation courses at the undergraduate level, except where previous equivalent course work is documented and approved by the department.

Thesis/Creative Project
This degree requires all students to complete a research thesis or creative project that explores a topic chosen from their area of concentration. Students select a faculty chair and committee members with expertise and interest in their topic. View a list of our landscape architecture faculty and their specialty areas.

Internship
Students in the first professional degree programs gain firsthand landscape architectural experience outside the classroom by completing a required internship with a professional firm, agency, or institution. The internship is at least 10 weeks of full-time employment, usually done during the summer between the second and third years. Students arrange their own internship with assistance and approval from the department. Learn more about our internships.

Assistantships
A number of graduate assistantships are available annually to qualified students in the M.L.A. program. These assistantships include special stipends and tuition waivers. However, students are still responsible for the dedicated fees.

Graduate assistants support research, teaching, and other departmental and college programs such as computer labs and guest lectures. You may indicate your interest in a graduate assistantship within your admission letter. Assistantships are usually distributed in the spring. Learn more about our graduate assistantships.

Special Activities
Noted professionals in the field share their expertise with students as guest lecturers, visiting scholars, and studio critics on campus and through interactive teleconferences and gallery exhibits. See upcoming events in our calendar of events.

Landscape architecture students also take trips to significant sites, attend conferences, and participate in field study programs across the country and abroad, developing a multicultural perspective. Find out more about our field study opportunities.

Ball State's student chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) also offers other exciting opportunities.  Find out more about CAP's student organizations.

For More Information
Meg Calkins, Graduate Program Coordinator
Department of Landscape Architecture
(765) 285-1971
calkins@bsu.edu 

For complete information on program requirements, please consult the Ball State University Graduate Catalog.