World's Best Design Programs

Story: How to Nurture Future Leaders

Slideshow: World's Best Design Schools

Methodology: How We Came Up With Our D-School List

Story: How Business Is Doing It

Table: Programs to Watch

Companies in every industry have adopted design thinking to offer fresh insight in functions from strategy to finance. BusinessWeek selected 39 master's and MBA programs from North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Australia that significantly integrate design thinking and business. Students in these programs take classes in art, management and science, for example, and create projects in multi-disciplinary teams with students from other schools. They aim to use design for strategy rather than merely for aesthetics and may find jobs as design managers, researchers or business consultants. These 30 programs have formally established hybrid curricula.

Click here for Programs to Watch.


Click column heading once to reorder from highest to lowest. Click twice to reorder from lowest to highest.
School
Location
Program
Art Center College of Design/INSEADU.S./France/SingaporeMaster's in Industrial Design/MBA
California College of the ArtsU.S.MBA in Design Strategy
Carnegie Mellon UniversityU.S.Master's in Product Development
Case Western Reserve University
Weatherhead School of Management		U.S.MBA
Chiba UniversityJapanMaster's in Service & Product Design
China Central Academy of Fine ArtsChinaMaster's in Design Management
Cranfield University/University of the Arts LondonU.K.Master's in Design in Innovation and Creativity in Industry
Delft University of TechnologyThe NetherlandsMaster's in Strategic Product Design
Domus AcademyItalyMaster's in Business Design
Helsinki School of Economics/
University of Art and Design Helsinki/
Helsinki University of Technology		FinlandInternational Design Business Management
Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityChinaMaster's in Design (Design Strategies)
Illinois Institute of TechnologyU.S.Dual degree Master of Design and MBA
Imperial College London/Design LondonU.K.MBA, EMBA, Weekend MBA
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and TechnologySouth KoreaMaster's in Industrial Design
National Institute of DesignIndiaStrategic Design Management post-graduate degree
Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management/
McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science		U.S.MMM (Dual degree Master's in Engineering Management and MBA)
Northwestern University McCormick
School of Engineering and Applied Science		U.S.Master's in Product Development
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do ParanáBrazilMBA* Emotional Design
Pratt InstituteU.S.Master of Professional Studies in Design Management
Royal College of Art/Imperial College LondonU.K.Dual degree Innovation Design Engineering
Savannah College of Art and DesignU.S.Master's in Design Management
School of Visual ArtsU.S.MFA Designer As Author
Shih Chien UniversityTaiwanMaster's in Industrial Design
Stanford UniversityU.S.Joint Program in Design/Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school)
Suffolk University Sawyer Business SchoolU.S.Executive MBA, concentration in Innovation & Design Management
Umeå University Institute of DesignSwedenMaster's in Industrial Design
University of California Berkeley Haas School of BusinessU.S.MBA
University of CincinnatiU.S.Master's in Design
University of Gothenburg/HDK School of Design and CraftsSwedenMaster's in Business & Design
University of Toronto Rotman School of ManagementCanadaMBA

*This MBA is a postgraduate degree, not a master's. The two are distinguished in Brazil.