Bachelor of Landscape Architecture

4 Years On Campus Bachelors Program

University of Oregon

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) at the University of Oregon is a four-year professional program that combines design inquiry, ecology, landscape planning, technology, and professional practice through hands-on work with real places, people, and landscape challenges. It is well suited to students interested in creating sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and meaningful environments while developing visual, spatial, critical-thinking, and professional design skills.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: Students begin by understanding landscapes and developing core design skills through LA 260 Understanding Landscapes and LA 289 Landscape Architectural Design, while LA 352 Digital Landscape Media introduces digital methods for communicating landscape ideas. The year establishes the foundation for visual, spatial, ecological, and digital design work.

Year 2: Students progress into more advanced design and analysis through LA 439 Landscape Architectural Design and Process, LA 413 Analyzing Landscape Systems, and LA 415 Computers in Landscape Architecture. They also study LA 464 Landscape Materials and Construction I, LA 465 Landscape Materials and Construction II, and LA 466 Landscape Materials and Construction III, connecting design concepts with materials, construction, landscape systems, and digital technology.

Year 3: The focus shifts toward site-scale planning, ecology, history, and theory through LA 489 Site Planning and Design, LA 441 Principles of Applied Ecology, and LA 474 History of Landscape Architecture I. Students continue with LA 475 History of Landscape Architecture II and LA 472 Landscape Architectural Theory: [Topic], developing a deeper understanding of ecological processes, historical precedents, cultural contexts, and landscape design theory.

Year 4: Students bring their design, planning, technical, and research skills together through LA 498 Comprehensive Project I and LA 499 Comprehensive Project II, culminating in substantial comprehensive design work. LA 462 Professional Practice Landscape Architecture adds professional knowledge, while electives allow students to explore related areas within the School of Architecture and Environment, Geography, or Environmental Studies.

Focus Areas

Landscape architectural design, ecology, plants and planting design, landscape technologies, professional practice, landscape planning and analysis, urban planning and design, landscape media, history, literature and theory of landscape architecture, sustainable landscapes.

Learning Outcomes

Visual and spatial design, landscape analysis, ecological understanding, site planning, digital landscape media, materials and construction, landscape planning, design communication, critical thinking, professional practice, sustainable and socially responsive landscape design.

Professional Alignment (Accreditation)

LAAB accreditation: The University of Oregon BLA is accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB) and has been continuously accredited since 1949. The program prepares students for professional licensure and careers in professional firms, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations.

STEM designation: The BLA is also designated as STEM (CIP 04.0601 Landscape Architecture), making eligible international graduates potentially able to apply for the extended STEM OPT period.

Reputation (Employability Rankings)

DesignIntelligence: The University of Oregon reports that its BLA was ranked #16 nationally among undergraduate landscape architecture programs and #6 most hired from by landscape architecture firms by program size in the 2019 DesignIntelligence survey. The university also reports recognition for Sustainable Built Environments / Adaptive Design / Resilient Design (#6) in its 2018 rankings.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

The Bachelor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon is built around hands-on learning with real places, real people, and real landscape challenges, using small cohort-based studios and field-study experiences. Students work across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest as a laboratory for design experimentation, while developing skills in landscape design, ecology, planting, planning, technology, and landscape media. The program also provides access to specialized digital and fabrication resources, and students can collaborate with faculty, graduate students, government agencies, nonprofits, and community groups on real-world issues.

Key opportunities and resources include:

Design Studios: Small studio groups of approximately 15–20 students provide a hands-on environment where students develop, test, critique, and refine landscape design proposals through an iterative process.
Field Study Experiences: Field studies are an explicit component of the BLA curriculum, allowing students to investigate landscapes and environmental conditions beyond the classroom. The department also offers funded field-study opportunities to landscape architecture premajors.
Overlook Field School: Students can participate in the department's Overlook Field School in rural Pennsylvania, where they engage with contemporary artists and designers and visit historic and contemporary landscape architecture projects on the East Coast.
Digital Landscape Tools: Landscape Architecture requires substantial digital work, with students using advanced digital representation and 3-D design software as part of the program's landscape media and technology workshops.
Windows-Based Computing: The department recommends Windows-based laptops because much of the software used in Landscape Architecture is Windows-centric, with dedicated GPU and memory requirements suited to complex graphics programs and large data files.
Site & Environmental Analysis Tools: Students have access to equipment including Solmetric Sun Eye, Solar Pathfinder, Suunto Global Compass and Altimeter, Kestrel Weather Meter, Hobo Dataloggers, Vaisala Humidity and Temperature Meter, Raytek Temperature Gun, and Heat Flux Transducer for environmental and site analysis.
Fabrication & Model Making: The School's fabrication resources include the Studio Shop and Woodshop, where students can develop physical models and prototypes using hand tools, power equipment, CNC machinery, and laser cutters.
Digital Fabrication: The Portland Fabrication Lab provides access to 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC cutters, allowing students to combine digital modeling with traditional craft and prototyping techniques.
Real-World Collaboration: Landscape Architecture students frequently work with cities, government agencies, nonprofits, and community groups, including through the University's Sustainable Cities Institute, giving studio work connections to real community and environmental challenges.
Comprehensive Project: The BLA culminates in a two-course comprehensive project, LA 490 and LA 499, in which each student identifies a site and design problem, develops objectives, collects information, and produces a comprehensive proposal addressing site, master-planning, physical, sociocultural, and environmental considerations.
Interdisciplinary Learning: Upper-level courses provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to collaborate, while electives can connect landscape architecture with architecture, planning, environmental studies, geography, and fine arts.
Research Environment: The department operates within a research university and engages varied Oregon landscapes—from the Pacific Coast and Cascade Mountains to eastern deserts, urban areas, rural settings, and wilderness—as settings for design experimentation and research.

Progression & Future Opportunities

The Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) prepares graduates for professional practice through an accredited, hands-on curriculum focused on sustainable landscapes, design, planning, and real-world environmental challenges. Graduates can work across professional landscape architecture firms, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, with the University of Oregon reporting that more than 90% of its landscape architecture alumni have achieved entry-level placements in the profession.

Typical career roles: Landscape Architect, Landscape Designer, Urban Landscape Designer, Landscape Planning Specialist.

The program connects students with professional practice, career development, community projects, and interdisciplinary opportunities that can help turn design skills into employment:

Career support: The School of Architecture & Environment provides career advising covering career-goal development, internship and job-search strategies, application materials, and interview preparation, with individual advising appointments and career-development courses also available.
Employment outcomes: UO's published BLA data shows professional placement rates of 75% for 2016–17, 92% for 2017–18, 78% for 2018–19, 70% for 2019–20, 63% for 2020–21, and 62% for 2021–22. The department's broader alumni information states that more than 90% of alumni achieved entry-level professional placements; the university does not publish a BLA-specific salary figure on these official pages.
Industry and community connections: Landscape Architecture students frequently work with cities, government agencies, nonprofits, and community groups on real-world issues, including through the University of Oregon's Sustainable Cities Institute.
Professional exposure: The curriculum emphasizes real places, real people, and real landscape challenges, while students receive opportunities for discussion and critical review involving professionals, faculty, clients, and fellow students.
Professional accreditation: The UO BLA is accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (LAAB). UO states that it is the only program in Oregon with both BLA and MLA programs accredited by LAAB, providing a professional degree pathway aligned with landscape architecture licensure requirements.
Licensure pathway: In Oregon, graduates can take the Landscape Architecture Registration Board examination after completing the UO BLA or MLA, with all examination sections required for licensure. Requirements can vary in other jurisdictions.
International graduate employment: The BLA is designated as a STEM degree (CIP 04.0601). UO states that this designation allows eligible international F-1 graduates to apply for the STEM OPT extension, potentially extending practical training eligibility from one year to up to three years.
Graduation outcomes: UO reports BLA graduates progressing into professional employment and, in some years, advanced study; alumni work in professional firms, city, regional, state and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and academic settings.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the BLA, students can continue into the University of Oregon's Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA), including the two-year MLA Track II for students with an environmental-design undergraduate degree such as landscape architecture. The department also offers a PhD in Landscape Architecture for advanced research, teaching, scholarship, and leadership, while concurrent master's options can combine landscape architecture with fields such as Architecture or Interior Architecture.