Admission to the exam normally requires a degree from an accredited school plus 1 to 4 years of work experience. The New Mexico State Board allows graduates of the new MLA program at the University of New Mexico to write the L.A.R.E. exams. Future employment trends for landscape architects look promising as public awareness of the profession increases. The September 20,1999, issue of U.S. News and World Report listed landscape architecture as the second fastest growing profession in the United States in 1999. This means that 3,500 to 5,900 new landscape architecture jobs will be created nationally.
Landscape architects have a myriad of employment options.
More than half of all landscape architecture graduates are employed in private landscape architecture, architecture or engineering firms. Federal employment at governmental agencies, such as the National Park Services, U.S. Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Federal Housing Administration, Natural Resources Conservation Services, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and the Veterans Administration, represents another potential career path. Other landscape architecture graduates work for the State or municipalities in agencies such as State Forestry Division, State Highway Departments, State Land Office, municipal planning departments, and municipal park and recreation departments. Presently, there are not enough landscape architecture graduates to meet the demand. Some graduates prefer self-employment as an option following licensure.