Louisiana State University is once again considered the best undergraduate program to prepare students for a career in landscape architecture based on teaching design, communication, sustainability and technology. The director of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture is Mark Boyer. Pictured is Design Week, a weeklong design workshop at the school led by alumnus Lewis May, FASLA. Photo: LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture

 

Harvard University is also once again rated the number one graduate program in landscape architecture. Mohsen Mostafavi, architect and educator, is dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design. Photo: Steve Kelly

Top Programs for Landscape Architecture, 2016
DesignIntelligence is a bi-monthly research report by the Design Futures Council https://designfuturescouncil.com, an interdisciplinary network of design, product and construction leaders. Among the council's publications is the annual America's Best Architecture & Design Schools https://tinyurl.com/nl94e4e.

The annual survey, in its 16th year, ranks undergraduate and graduate programs from the perspective of leading practitioners in architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and industrial design. This year's survey, available as a downloadable PDF ($39.99), was conducted in mid-2015 with the participation of 1,426 professionals from the Design Futures Council database of leading U.S. firms. The respondents had to verify that they were currently responsible for hiring or supervising design professionals. Nonqualifying respondents were excluded from the results.

The professional practice survey posed this question: "In your firm's hiring experience in the past five years, which schools are best preparing students for a future in the profession and designing a sustainable future?" The practitioners were also asked which programs are best at teaching design, communication, sustainability and technology. The rankings are based on their responses.

Forty 40 deans and department heads also expressed their opinions about programs in their own universities and other school departments across the U.S.

Top 10 Landscape Architecture Schools for 2016

Undergraduate Programs
• Louisiana State University (Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture)
• Pennsylvania State University
• Cornell University
• University of Georgia
• Texas A&M University
• Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• Purdue University
• Ball State University
• Iowa State University
• Ohio State University

Graduate Programs
• Harvard University
• University of Pennsylvania
• Louisiana State University
• Cornell University
• University of Virginia
• Kansas State University
• Pennsylvania State University
• University of Calif., Berkeley
• Texas A&M University
• University of Georgia