Graduate Programs

The Institute of Design offers two professional degrees, the Master of Design and the Master of Design Methods, as well as a research degree, the PhD, which was the first doctoral program in design in the United States. The Master of Design degree can be combined with an MBA from IIT's Stuart Graduate School of Business through our condensed dual degree program.

Who we admit
Unlike many graduate design programs, we actively encourage applicants with little or no formal design training. In fact, about half of the students at ID come from backgrounds besides design, and are an essential part of the student body. Non-designer applicants to the MDes program complete an intensive two-semester Foundation sequence of courses that prepares them for the main program. Non-designer applicants to the MDM program are also strongly encouraged. See one example in BusinessWeek of a career track for a non-designer MDes graduate.

MDes Program
The MDes program is a professional program terminating with a design project demonstrating the application of new theories and processes to contemporary and developing problems.

MDM Program
The MDM is a condensed/part-time executive degree for mid-career designers, managers, engineers and other leaders of innovation, focusing exclusively on advanced methods and frameworks for leading innovation and strategy teams.

PhD Program
The PhD is a degree culminating in a dissertation that extends the body of knowledge about design theory and process. ID was the first design school in the United States to offer a PhD degree program in 1991.

Download the ID viewbook (9 page Acrobat PDF, 2.4MB)

Modified: Tuesday, 10-Apr-2007 10:18:06 CDT