Top Schools

The purview of Columbia’s challenging masters program is to “weave together the highest level of disciplinary expertise with the critical and technical skills necessary to recast the boundaries of the discipline.”

Frank Alvah Parsons started the first-ever interior design program here in 1906, defining the field as both a creative practice and scholarly work.

Offering programs emphasizing a holistic approach, Carleton’s School of Industrial Design is just one of two schools in Canada recognized by the Industrial Design Society of America.

Given starchitect Odile Decq’s punk rock reputation, the esteemed graduate school she launched in 2014 is fittingly designed around rule breaking.

Under the auspices of UPenn’s School of Design, intensive studio work is accompanied by seminars and workshops in history, theory and new technologies.

Started in 1907 by German cabinetmaker Frederick Meyer, a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, the school has a storied legacy.

The century-old architecture program at TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment puts an emphasis on the profession’s technical and scientific aspects.

Ryerson’s workshop-based experiential ID program has been significantly enhanced by the recent addition of an in-house digital fabrication lab boasting cutting-edge equipment.

The Graduate School of Design’s Gund Hall was designed to eliminate a siloed approach to disciplines and foster an atmosphere of sharing and inspiration among the students and faculty.

With its devoted focus, an average class size of 13 and a 10-1 student-faculty ratio, this 100-year-old school guarantees students a close-up, in-depth look at an increasingly multifaceted field.