As we enter the golden age of design in startups, highly talented user-interface and product designers are becoming ever more important.
Some companies leading the charge are Apple, Path, Pinterest, Square, and Airbnb. What those companies have in common is that design is at the core of their businesses.
But which school is best suited to get you the design job you want?
Over the past couple of months, we conducted a survey to find the top 25 design schools in the world.
All of these schools are comparable in terms of academics, quality of staff, and amazing campuses. But what matters most is how valuable these schools really are.
Of our 633 respondents to the survey, 87.8% said they studied or participated in a college-level design program.
Most of the respondents were either art directors (26.9%) or product designers (30.3%). The vast majority of respondents (76.6%) said skills and knowledge were the most valuable asset their respective design programs offered.
We ranked the schools by a simple metric: What percentage of respondents ranked the schools somewhat valuable, valuable, or extremely valuable?
25. Illinois Institute of Technology
Rating: 55% of respondents said the program is valuable.
About: The IIT ranked number 13 on Businessweek's list of best design schools in 2009 for its focus on the intersection between strategy and human-centered innovation.
Location: Chicago, IL
Founded: 1940
Total Enrollment: 7,738
Business Insider's rating is based on a simple and pragmatic survey that asked how valuable each design school's program really is.
24. Georgia Institute of Technology
Rating: 55.3% of respondents said the program is valuable.
About: Georgia Tech has a great blend of engineering, manufacturing, business, and design in its curriculum. It's also the alma mater of several prominent designers including Michael Arad, who designed the World Trade Center Memorial in New York City and "Trading Spaces" designer Vern Yip.
Location: Atlanta, GA
Founded: 1885
Total Enrollment: 20,000
Business Insider's rating is based on a simple and pragmatic survey that asked how valuable each design school's program really is.
23. Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture (fka University of Art and Design Helsinki)
Rating: 55.6% of respondents said the program is valuable.
About: The School of Arts, Design, and Architecture is broken into five departments: Media; Design; Art; Architecture; and Motion Picture, Television and Production Design. All departments put an emphasis on a humanist world view and aim to implement human-oriented environments.
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Founded: 1871
Total Enrollment: 2,779
Business Insider's rating is based on a simple and pragmatic survey that asked how valuable each design school's program really is.
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