Pennsylvania Licensure Requirements

Bachelor's Degree

1 Examination

2 Years of Practical Experience

24 Hours of Continuing Education (when renewing license)

$60.00 Initial Fee

$194.00 Renewal Fee

A licensed professional that arranges or modifies the features of a landscape or an urban area for aesthetic and/or practical reasons.

Degree Requirement: 

Bachelor's Degree - Applicant must have received either:

(1) an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture from an approved institution or college and after graduation have at least two years of practical experience in landscape architectural work of a grade and character satisfactory to the Board, or

(2): Must have received an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture from an approved institution or college and have completed at least one year of graduate school in landscape architecture and after graduation also has at least one year of practical experience in landscape architectural work of a grade and character satisfactory to the Board, or

(3) Must have received a graduate degree in landscape architecture from an approved institution or college and has an undergraduate degree in another subject matter and after graduation also has at least two years of practical experience in landscape architectural work of a grade and character satisfactory to the Board.

Examination Requirement: 

1 Examination - The Landscape Architect Registration Exam (LARE) administered by the Council of Landscape Architects Registration Boards (CLARB).  Preapproval is required from the Board prior to scheduling for the LARE.   

Experience: 

2 Years - Professional experience means 2 years of experience obtained under the supervision of a design professional. If the applicant is not supervised by a landscape architect, the applicant shall have his professional work product reviewed by a registered landscape architect every 6 months for 2 consecutive years.

Continuing Education (when renewing license): 

24 Hours - A licensee shall complete 24 clock hours of continuing education as a condition of biennial renewal. A licensee is not required to complete continuing education during the biennium in which the licensee is first licensed. 

Initial Licensing Fee: 

$60.00

Licensure Renewal Fee:

$194.00 - Biennial renewal of license

Licensure by Endorsement & Licensure by Act 41:

An applicant who requests registration by endorsement shall submit with the application an official certification of registration in the applicant's home state, territory or country from the secretary of the examining or registration board or other certifying official, stating on what basis registration was granted, whether by oral or written examination or exemption, and whether the registration is in good standing at the time of the application for registration in the Commonwealth.

Act 41 allows for portability of out-of-state professional licensees coming to work in Pennsylvania. Act 41 does this by granting all boards and commissions within the Commonwealth the authority to endorse licensees from other states, territories or jurisdictions (with substantially equivalent licensing requirements) who are active, in good standing and without discipline against their license or criminal conviction.