The program provides a strong foundation in the technical and professional skills of site design, while allowing students the opportunity to specialize in community design, ecological design, cultural landscape conservation, and construction management.
Students also receive a sound foundation in the liberal arts and sciences.
The B.L.A. program is designed for those students desiring to enter the profession of landscape architecture directly after completing the degree, or as a precursor to graduate school. The B.L.A. degree is granted at the end of five years of study and requires the successful completion of 160 credit hours of course work. A limited number of students are accepted into the freshman program at ESF, however, most students complete their 62 credit hours of lower division studies at another institution and transfer to the ESF as juniors. The student's grounding in the liberal arts is intended to produce a well rounded individual that has a deeper understanding of the factors that affect design. Because landscape architecture deals with people as well as nature, this background in liberal arts is intended to help bridge this gap.