Master of Landscape Architecture

• Students have extensive opportunities for civic engagement, including paid internships at the college’s Colorado Center for Community Development (CCCD), providing diverse opportunities to work directly with and in communities across the state, and the unique and ground-breaking Learning Landscapes program whose mission is to build public places that support the well-being of children through increased exercise, access to open space and community gathering places, experiencing and working in gardens, and more. At 96 schoolyards and counting, Learning Landscapes has provided Denver's children with great places to play.
• The practice of landscape architecture is now global, and this department is a leader in providing international study opportunities.
• Opportunities to develop international partnerships with our diverse body of international and domestic students, and travel study courses offered annually. The department offers an exchange program with Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Selected MLA students from CU Denver may spend up to two semesters at Tongji University and MLA students from Tongji may spend up to two semesters at CU Denver. Students who participate in the program take rigorous courses and may participate in an internship experience; they enter the profession with valuable international experience and connections.
• The certificate in Geospatial Information Science for Landscape Architecture offers an opportunity to develop knowledge, skills and critical context through cross-disciplinary study in the rapidly developing and progressively relevant platform of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• Our students engage in research with faculty and on their own through optional independent studies and thesis. They have presented at local, national and international conferences and symposia such as the National Park Service Western Region CESU Conference, Environmental Design Research Association, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, and International Green Roof Conference.
• R O O T is the student-run landscape architecture journal. We have published seven volumes since its inception, and it received an honorable mention in the national competition for the Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals in 2011.
• Student organizations include Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Urban Horticulture Club, and Sigma Lambda Alpha, the landscape architecture national honor society.

The academic curriculum consists of:

• Sequential and integrated design studios

• Core lecture and seminar courses

• Research and elective opportunities, including professional internships and thesis

The Department of Landscape Architecture views inquiry, both individual and collective, as the means to invent, energize, inform, and evaluate design ideas, processes and results. The curriculum emphasizes and values design and the design process coupled with knowledge and capability in the theories, technologies, sciences, arts, materials and methods associated with the practice of Landscape Architecture.  Core themes, theories, precedents, technologies, and skills of the profession are developed in the lecture and seminar courses. You will develop design capabilities in studio courses.

Curriculum integration is achieved through deliberate internal coordination within the program, and through collaboration with other programs within the College as well as with other CU Denver schools and colleges. The MLA curriculum provides opportunities to facilitate the offering and testing of new courses in response to timely interests of faculty and students.

Professional practitioners representing consulting firms and governmental agencies of regional, national, and international distinction share in and contribute to the life of the department. They teach courses, participate in reviews, host internships and office visits, give presentations, exhibit their works, and mentor and interact at personal levels with students and faculty.

The Program's strengths lie in its broad view of Landscape Architecture, its support for the interests of the faculty, the discourse among faculty and students, and its associations with allied programs, the professional community and the community at-large. Successful graduates pursue diverse practices and occupations in public and private arenas, and make positive differences in the quality of our environment.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

The Department of Landscape Architecture faculty is committed to developing and implementing efficient and effective processes of assessment and evaluation to advance student learning, teaching effectiveness and program quality.  The program’s five broad objectives and student learning outcomes provide the faculty and students with a shared understanding of the goals directing the curriculum. Students are expected to be proficient or above in each of these areas by the time they graduate from the program.

• Design: Students will be able to formulate questions and arguments about landscape and landscape’s role as a significant cultural medium; determine processes and practices that lead to conceptual, analytical and formative actions that transform existing situations into preferred alternatives based on ethical, communicative and content knowledge criteria.

• Ethics: Students will be able to critically evaluate local and global ramifications of social issues, diverse cultures, economic systems, ecological systems and professional practice as guiding principles for design thinking and implementation.

• Communication and Representation: Students will be able to speak, write, create and employ appropriate representational media to effectively convey ideas on subject matter contained in the professional curriculum to a variety of audiences.
• Content Knowledge: Students will be able to develop a critical understanding and application of the histories, theories, ethics and practices of landscape architecture, and its role in reflecting and shaping culture and environments.
• Research: Students will be able to understand and apply appropriate research methods for design and scholarship in landscape architecture.

THESIS

The graduate thesis in landscape architecture provides an opportunity for students to conduct independent research and design investigations that demonstrate their capacity for rigorous original thinking.

The thesis is not required for graduation and not all students are approved to write a thesis. Choosing to pursue a thesis project constitutes a significant commitment to the endeavor; the topic must be chosen with care and thoughtfully and critically developed. Topics can explore material that has been previously unstudied, reinterpret existing material in a new light, or engage research and design practices in ways that strengthen and define a final design project. For all theses, the research and products must meet the highest standards of academic excellence and contribute significantly to the discipline and/or profession. The thesis can be a traditional written and research-based thesis or a design thesis.

Pursuing a thesis requires students to enroll in a three-course sequence for a maximum total of 12 semester hours. Students are required to formulate their research proposals two full semesters prior to their enrollment for the 6-semester-hour thesis, typically taken in lieu of the final studio. To proceed through the sequence, students must have completed and passed the research tools and methods class (LDAR 6940) and have secured departmental approval of the thesis proposal.

The completion of the thesis is dependent on acceptance of the student’s work by the faculty member acting as the thesis chair and by the committee. For work to be accepted it must meet the standards established by the University of Colorado Denver for graduate thesis projects. For more information on the thesis process and examples of theses click here (forthcoming).

The College of Architecture and Planning welcomes applications to our Master of Landscape Architecture program from students with a variety of professional and educational backgrounds. The faculty-led selection process aims to admit students who are likely to succeed in completing the requirements for the degree and whose interests fit with the program’s educational capacities. All of the required application materials help us to evaluate your potential for graduate study and to pair your interests with our strengths. No one component ensures or precludes admission; judgment is based on the entire application packet.


APPLICATION DEADLINE

Normally, the application deadline is February 1 for Fall semester, with a late application deadline of April 15. Most applicants can expect to receive an admission decision 4-6 weeks after the application deadline.

Applicants who apply between February 2 and April 15 are reviewed on a space available basis. Admissions decisions are made by the end of May. Late applicants will not be eligible for scholarship consideration and will be last in line to register. You are strongly encouraged to apply by our February 1st deadline for full consideration.

Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, we will allow additional flexibility for our application deadlines. If you’re interested in coming to CU as a new student or to continue your education even temporarily, we are here for you. Please contact Jodi Stock at Jodi.stock@ucdenver.edu for more details. ​

APPLICANT BACKGROUND
The Landscape Architecture program encourages applicants from diverse fields of undergraduate study, including the liberal arts and sciences as well as the design and planning disciplines. Students entering the program recently have held degrees in the following areas:

​Landscape Architecture

Architecture

Urban Design

Environmental Design

Fine Arts

Geography

Environmental Studies

Sociology

Environmental Psychology

Business

Horticulture

Ecology

Anthropology

Public Health

REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS

• Online application
• Application fee ($50 for domestic applicants, $75 for international applicants)
• Resume that documents your education and professional background.
• Statement of purpose in which you discuss your interest in the Master of Landscape Architecture program and CU Denver.
• Three letters of recommendation.
• One official transcript from all undergraduate institutions attended EXCEPT study abroad experiences.
• Official transcripts should be mailed to the College of Architecture and Planning at the address at the end of this page.
• International students must mail an official certified translated transcript. You do not need to have your transcripts evaluated. Please feel free to mail transcripts early in the application process.
• You may upload a scan of your transcripts to the online application but you must also send official transcripts.
• International applicants must submit proof of English language proficiency. You can view required scores on the Office of International Admissions' website.
• GRE (not required, but recommended if undergraduate GPA is below 3.0).
• Portfolio that showcases your best work. Portfolios are submitted through the online application. Students with a degree in landscape architecture are expected to include studio work. Students with no background in landscape architecture should demonstrate their creative abilities through whatever media they are comfortable. Portfolios should be designed for viewing on a computer screen. Please avoid double page spreads.
• If you are a resident of any of the 15 western states in the WICHE-WRGP region (except Colorado), please fill out the WICHE-WRGP section of the online application to be considered for WICHE-WRGP status. ​​

Please mail transcripts to:
University of Colorado Denver
College of Architecture and Planning
PO Box 173364
Campus Box 126
Denver CO 80217-3364
​