The University of Louisiana at Lafayette conducts one of the few remaining Professional Land and Resource Management (PLRM) degree programs in North America. Faculty members, and more importantly the students, believe the University PLRM program is the best of all left in existence. This belief is undoubtedly present due to the unique nature of the University's PLRM degree program.

The degree program is unique in the aspects of its curriculum and the Student Association of Professional Landmen (SAPL), which is more like a small business rather than an academic club. Under the current PLRM degree program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, students are required to take core common business knowledge courses, and also numerous major courses such as Professional Land Management Seminar I & II and Mineral Law. These major courses are unique because local land professionals and mineral lawyers teach them. This gives PLRM graduates of the University a more realistic idea of what they may encounter in a real life job as a landman, and gives updated knowledge pertaining to the oil industry.

The Student Association of Professional Landmen was established in 1981 to aid students in familiarizing themselves with the oil industry. Many local professional landmen currently act as mentors to students through the SAPL to help prepare them for their future careers as landmen. SAPL gives students opportunities to network and socialize with many local landmen to help them make contacts throughout the oil industry. Many PLRM students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette have obtained part time jobs as landmen through their contacts made at SAPL functions.