Here’s why: First, one of the reasons that education can fail is that it spends more time measuring people than mentoring them. Second, we want maximum risk from our students, and a no-grades policy lets them spread their wings without fear. Third, and above all, we want to build trust between students and faculty, nuturing a relationship that is collegial and professional.

→ Read alumni reflections

Our campus location serves as an unparalleled learning lab, and our studio space features reconfigurable classrooms, state-of—the-art making labs, a full-on central kitchen, and more. We also teach in professional studios around New York City—from frog Design to Johnson & Johnson—and students attend studio space workshops and meet with the leadership at ground-breaking organizations from Google Creative Lab, Lyft, Kickstarter, Etsy, and the New York Times.

→ See a day in the life!

Our MFA design program faculty list reads like a who’s who of Design Industry champions. From Community Design leader to Sloan Leo, to Suma Reddy, to Antenna Design's Sigi Moeslinger & Masamichi Udagawa, our faculty are experts in their field and are deeply involved in local and international design worlds. They bring both their hands-on methodologies, as well as their unique perspectives on the future of design into the curriculum… and into their classrooms.

→ Meet the faculty

Alongside scholarship, research, and methods, we are devoted to the prototype— whether it’s a system, a user journey map, a mobile app, or a working, physical model. Every year, we work with the Museum of Modern Art to design products for manufacture and inclusion in their wholesale and retail channels. Our students learn to create compelling, convincing prototypes, in addition to the fundamentals of manufacturing and distribution.

→ Learn more about our MoMA Partnership

Evidenced by the thesis topics, course work, and partnered projects, the beating heart of the program centers on social impact, design for justice, systems change, and the drive towards a more fair and equitable world. If you want to be a positive force, here’s where you’ll get fortified. We place moral integrity, empathy, and generosity over all other design skills as part of our master design program.

→ Check out our thesis projects