MA in LA from Academy of Art Experience

Isn’t there a way to find out if a school is an ACCREDITED one – by CLARB or another body? I don’t even understand the purpose of a degree for people who are just “interested in” LA. That is almost cruel if students don’t come out with the necessary technical skills, when the same time could be spent in a solid program that could lead to employment and the relevant state exam. If you are just “interested,” then there are lighter courses or even horticultural “design” ones at jr. colleges just to get a taste of something similar.

I don’t really know that state so can’t guide you. But just beware of something. There sometimes ARE people who get a job with a registered L.A. as a helper person who knows plants well, can do drafting, estimating, watercolor sketches, nearly anything….including LA students who just didn’t finish their degree. And if you gathered some courses anywhere at all, it could put you on a slow license track. But look into whether the state you want to stay in allows such training and experience only under conditions of a deep discount. Many license acts give credit for unusual training and/or experience gained in other ways such as working with a civil engineer or architect, contractor, or even survey crew. But it can rate something like 1/3 or 1/2 the value of the ideal experience. I think the lack of an accredited degree could affect you the same way: extra years of experience required, meaning you could be delayed a long time and depending on the details, end up compromised in how you would fare on parts of the exam as well.

Another route might just be to get a degree that would allow working for a design/build firm that could offer some satisfaction. In my area, the state community or technical college system has a “Turfgrass Management” 2 year degree which sounds unrelated. But it turns out that they teach how to do small scale design with some industry type software since the opportunities to manage big grounds and golf courses may not materialize or be seasonal. Those other courses allow the grads to do design/installation for small companies and is essentially training to be a landscape contractor. Other schools may have a more “landscape design” sounding technical degree.

If you don’t like what that leads to after some employment experience, you might get some transfer credits from it, be a little ahead if you find your way into an LA school, and step into the LA field with some work credits (even if discounted). But that could be just another detour and not any better deal than what you are thinking. I’d just be very careful about money spent where the faculty may be more artist/illustrators/environmentalists etc. and that could leave you lacking technical courses on plant knowledge, construction etc.