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2024 Best Industrial Design Schools

53 Colleges in the United States
1,792 Product Design Degrees Awarded
If you plan on majoring in industrial design, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #304 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 53 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Industrial Design Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,792 degrees in industrial design to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Industrial Design School

Best Industrial Design Schools Your choice of industrial design school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Industrial Design School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Industrial Design Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Product Design
Bachelor's Degrees in Product Design
Master's Degrees in Product Design

The product design school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Industrial Design Schools. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Industrial Design in the United States

The schools below may not offer all types of product design degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top Schools in Product Design

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IA
61 Product Design Degrees Awarded

Every student who is interested in industrial design has to look into Iowa State University. Iowa State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Ames. A Best Colleges rank of #75 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.

There were about 61 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in industrial design from Iowa State University

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In OH
66 Product Design Degrees Awarded

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in industrial design. Located in the large city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 5th out of 96 schools for overall quality in the state of Ohio.

There were approximately 66 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at UC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in industrial design from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In NY
31 Product Design Degrees Awarded

Fashion Institute of Technology is a great choice for students interested in a degree in industrial design. FIT SUNY is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #85 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means FIT SUNY is a great school overall.

There were about 31 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at FIT SUNY in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in industrial design from Fashion Institute of Technology

4
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MN
43.5% Growth in Graduates

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in industrial design. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the large city of Minneapolis. A Best Colleges rank of #51 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.

There were about 23 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in industrial design from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IL
54 Product Design Degrees Awarded

UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were about 54 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in industrial design from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In WA

UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Seattle. A Best Colleges rank of #37 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UW Seattle is a great university overall.

There were about 16 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in industrial design from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In NY
111 Product Design Degrees Awarded

Pratt Institute is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Brooklyn.

There were approximately 111 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at Pratt Institute in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute - Main

8
Virginia Tech crest
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In VA

Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Blacksburg. A Best Colleges rank of #62 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Virginia Tech is a great school overall.

There were approximately 28 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at Virginia Tech in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in industrial design from Virginia Tech

9
New School University crest
The New School
New York, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In NY
63 Product Design Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of New York, New School University is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population. This school ranks 15th out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were about 63 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at New School University in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in industrial design from The New School

10
Drexel crest
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In PA
31.8% Growth in Graduates

Drexel is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. This university ranks 10th out of 109 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.

There were about 22 industrial design students who graduated with this degree at Drexel in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in industrial design from Drexel University

Industrial Design by Region

View the Best Industrial Design Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Industrial Design is one of 9 different types of Design & Applied Arts programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Product Design

Related Major Annual Graduates
Graphic Design 8,710
Interior Design 5,840
Visual Communications 5,765
Commercial & Advertising Art 3,597
Fashion Design 3,103
Game & Interactive Media Design 2,692
Illustration 2,538
Other Design & Applied Arts 1,336
Commercial Photography 928

View All Product Design Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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