Landscape Architecture: Path to Practice
Everything you need to navigate your landscape architecture journey from classroom to career and licensure, all in one place.
The path
Six stops from your first studio to your license, with resources from 6 organizations. Pick one to see what to do and where to go.
Students: ASLA membership is free. Join for peer and professional connections, student programs, and a path to Associate membership after you graduate.
Join ASLA freeThe stretch nobody explains.
After graduation, three things run side by side: building supervised experience, passing the four sections of the L.A.R.E., and keeping your CLARB Record up to date. Here is how they fit together.
You can start the exam early.
CLARB notes that most boards let you start the L.A.R.E. while you are still gaining experience. You do not have to wait until your hours are done. Check your own board, because rules differ.
Experience means supervised work.
Most boards want supervised experience in the four regulated areas of practice, overseen by a licensed landscape architect or a related design professional. How much you need depends on your board and your degree.
CLARB's experience guidance (free account)
Log it as you go.
Your CLARB Record holds your verified education, experience, and exam results, and it is what your board reviews. Note your dates, supervisors, and projects as you work, so verifying them later takes minutes, not months.
The order things usually happen
- 1Finish your degreeAccredited by LAAB or LAAC
- 2Open your CLARB RecordRight after you graduate
- 3Gain experienceUnder a licensed supervisor
- 4Pass four L.A.R.E. sectionsOften while gaining experience
- 5Apply to your boardCLARB sends your Record
- 6LicensedThen CE and renewals
Timing depends on your board, your degree, and how you schedule exams. Steps 3 and 4 often overlap.
What it costs
- L.A.R.E., four sectionsabout $545 each
- All four sectionsabout $2,180
- CLARB Recordone-time fee, then yearly
- Practice exams (optional)$25 per section
- ASLA Associate duesdiscounted for 3 years
Exam figure is based on the CLARB Exam Success Grant, which reimburses about $545 per section. Check CLARB's fee page for current amounts.
Help paying for it
- CLARB Exam Success Grants: about $545 back for each section you pass, if you have financial need.
- ASLA Licensure Advancement Program: exam fees, prep courses, and a mentor.
- Other licensure support, including GI Bill benefits and Canadian programs.
- Your ASLA chapter. Many offer L.A.R.E. grants.
- Your employer. Here is how to ask.
Questions emerging professionals ask
Your employer may pay for this. Ask.
Many firms cover dues, exam fees, prep, and conference time, but only when someone asks. A licensed landscape architect is worth more to a practice, so this is a business conversation, not a favor.
Things worth asking for
- ASLA Associate dues (discounted for your first three years)
- L.A.R.E. section fees, or reimbursement when you pass
- Prep courses and practice exams
- Time to attend LARE Prep Week or the ASLA Conference
Subject: Support for my path to licensure Hi [Name], I'm working toward my landscape architecture license and would like to ask whether [Firm] could support some of the costs along the way, such as: - ASLA Associate membership dues - L.A.R.E. exam fees (about $545 per section, four sections) - Prep courses or practice exams - Time to attend LARE Prep Week or the ASLA Conference Being licensed will let me take on more responsibility on our projects. ASLA has a short guide on what membership offers firms, which I'm happy to share. Could we find a few minutes to talk about what might work? Thanks, [Your name]
LABash is your student home.
LABash is where landscape architecture students find each other: the community for ASLA student members. You don't join LABash. Your free ASLA student membership is your way in. Every spring the community gathers at the LABash conference, organized by students and hosted by a different school each year.
Next gathering: Arizona State University, March 3–5, 2027
Coming up
Full calendar
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Licensed. Now what?
Track your continuing education.
Most boards require continuing education to renew. Your CLARB Record can hold it all, add LA CES courses automatically, and print a transcript for your board. ASLA Online Learning offers courses with professional development hours.
Renew on time.
Add your license expiration dates to your CLARB Record to get renewal reminders. Each board sets its own renewal cycle and CE hours.
Practice in more places.
CLARB Certification is free with an active Record and speeds up licensure in other jurisdictions. In Canada, the national reciprocity agreement covers moves between provinces.
Mentor someone one stop behind you.
Join your chapter's emerging professionals group, volunteer at LABash, or sit at an Ask Me Anything table in the Emerging Professional Zone at the ASLA Conference.
From student, to Associate, to full ASLA member.
Your free student membership becomes a discounted Associate membership for your first years in practice. Once you're licensed, full ASLA membership is where landscape architects keep learning, advocate for the profession, and lead.
Hand out the path.
Each stop prints as a one-page checklist with every resource and its web address. Every stop also has its own link, so you can send students straight to it from a syllabus, newsletter, or slide.
One path, built together
Path to Practice brings together programs from the organizations that educate, accredit, license, and support landscape architects. Every link goes straight to the organization that runs the program.