News

November 13, 2025, Lincoln, Neb.— After an outpouring of public support, the future of landscape architecture in Nebraska has been preserved. This week, University of Nebraska Chancellor Rodney D. Bennett announced plans to save the university’s Landscape Architecture program from elimination after receiving nearly 2,300 signatures and 230 letters in support of it. Academic degrees in Landscape Architecture and Community and Regional Planning will remain available, streamlined into a One-Unit model within the College of Architecture. The American Society of Landscape Architects and its Nebraska/Dakotas chapter applaud the decision.

 

"We are profoundly grateful to the Academic Planning Committee and Chancellor Bennett for recognizing just how vital landscape architects are to the health and resilience of our communities,” said ASLA Nebraska/Dakotas Chapter President Gordon Lemmel. “This decision means more than just keeping a program. It preserves the dreams of students who want to make a difference in their communities, and it protects Nebraska’s ability to shape a more sustainable and beautiful future. Cutting the Landscape Architecture program might have saved a few dollars, but it would have cost us a generation of thinkers and doers dedicated to improving lives through design. Because of this decision, that legacy and that hope lives on.”

 

“Since September, thousands of people spoke out in support of landscape architecture in Nebraska, added ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen, Hon. ASLA. “Eliminating this program would have decimated the profession within the state, undermining economic development and the integrity and safety of Nebraska’s shared spaces. We hope this victory will serve as a model for schools in other states facing similar budgetary challenges.”

 

As Nebraska’s only Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board-accredited pathway to licensure, UNL’s program meets urgent workforce needs, and supports a state-level industry that has exceeded national industry growth by 206.2 percent. Enrollment in the program has grown by 40 percent in the last nine years,100 percent of graduates from the program find work, and 71 percent of those graduates stay in-state. The state is home to at least 18 active landscape architecture firms, all of which rely on UNL graduates to meet workforce needs.