The School awards a Master of Design degree (also known as MDes). We currently offer concentrations in Industrial Design, Interaction Design, and Visual Communication Design.

No. The School only accepts full-time, degree-seeking students to the MDes program.

The size varies year to year, but typically we admit 4-10 students per year.

You can find information about cost and financial aid here. →

The MDes studio is located on the 2nd floor of the Art Building on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington, overlooking the cherry trees in the quad. The newly renovated space is used for seminars and studio classes as well as individual work, socializing or fabricating larger prototypes and projects. See more about spaces here. →

You will have access to tools via a series of spaces in the Art Building and on campus. The spaces include the library, maker spaces (which give you access to laser cutters, 3d printers, sewing machines, vinyl cutters, electronics tools, etc.), woodworking shop, prototyping lab, computer centers (giving you access to large plotter printers), a digital portfolio studio (for photography), and more. See more about tools and spaces on the Experience page. →

The MDes is a two year program. The first year involves three graduate studios and three graduate seminars, as well as three electives. The second year is focused on your thesis project, where you work closely with your thesis chair (a member of the design faculty). Read more about the program here. →

Find a list of suggested electives here. →

The thesis is an opportunity to enrich the field of design with an original contribution. The thesis work is conducted during the second year of the MDes program, with a focus on research in the fall, design in the winter, and communication in the spring. You can find more information about the thesis and examples of past thesis projects here. →

Yes. You will be able to express your preference for your thesis chair and committee members. We will work together to align your preference, with your thesis interests and the expertise of the faculty.

It is fine to have ideas for a thesis direction when you enter the program. You can strategically choose electives that will support your interest and you can start finding faculty who might be interested in guiding you through independent studies. However, many students change their mind once they enter the program and are exposed to new ways of seeing and thinking with design (and that works well too).  

Teaching assistantships (TAships) are a great opportunity to gain experience in teaching design. If your long term goal is to teach design, this is a great place to start. During a TAship, you work with one faculty teaching one class (usually a freshman or sophomore class in Design, although there are also sometimes opportunities to TA in other adjacent departments with classes at different levels). Every faculty member is different, but most of the time the TA's responsibilities are to offer critique to students, grade projects, hold office hour sessions for students, and be present and participate during class. TAships are also a great financial opportunity: they cover your tuition for that quarter, they give you benefits (health, etc), and you also receive a stipend.

In Design our process to assign TAship is as follows: At the end of spring quarter, you will apply for the TAships which fit best with your expertise and interests (we provide a list of classes with descriptions of skills needed). Once applications are filled, the faculty meet and assign the TAships based on your applications. We assign TAships for a whole year (fall, winter, spring).

No. The MDes program has only one track, where students from various design backgrounds  (such as industrial design, interaction design and visual communication design) learn alongside each other. You need only apply to the Division of Design MDes program, but you should indicate your main area of interest. In your personal statement, please let us know what your background in design is and what branch of design you are interested in exploring during your MDes studies.  

No. We only admit students for Autumn Quarter.

You can find a list of required documents here. →

The portfolio should demonstrate your knowledge and abilities in the field of Design. You may include up to 20 pages of your design work, saved as one PDF which will largely be viewed on a computer screen. For each project, it is helpful to briefly describe what the project was and the intent of the design. If projects were made in a team, please include what part you were in charge of particularly. For some projects, it is also  helpful to include a brief overview of the process that led to the final design.

The portfolio should include a cover sheet and a list of the projects included. The PDF document should not exceed 30MB in size. You are welcome to include web design, interactive pieces, animation, or video content as part of your portfolio by inserting links to these sources within your portfolio document. Please note, however, that these should be considered supplementary.

This statement should clearly articulate your goals and the extent to which the UW MDes program can be expected to prepare you for those objectives. The statement should also describe your background, specifically in the field of Design. This could include a description of your design process, your work experiences, your intentions in relation to the work you have submitted and what you plan to focus on during your graduate study. You should also reference the particular area of Design (industrial design, interaction design or visual communication design) in which you are interested. Your statement of purpose should also include specific areas of interest or topics you might with to explore for your thesis project.

Yes. We consider all applicants with competitive design experience/portfolios.

No. The UW Graduate School requires a minimum 3.0 GPA for admission to the UW.

No. GRE scores are not required for application to the MDes program.

There is no separate application for the three year program. Faculty review individual applications on a case by case basis. If you wish to be considered for the three year MDes program, please indicate this in your personal statement.

Minimum scores for the TOEFL or other accepted English proficiency tests are available here. →

No. All MDes applicants are automatically considered for these awards. To read more about these awards, see this page. →

The School keeps application materials for one calendar year. Students reapplying in a consecutive year may request in writing to reuse transcripts and/or letters of recommendation. However, if your transcripts now contain new information, please submit new transcripts.

If you have questions that are not answered in the instructions or on this FAQ page, please contact the School's Graduate Advisor, Ann Langford-Fuchs, at gradart@uw.edu. →

We host virtual information sessions every fall which you can register for here. → You can also explore the thesis page → to get a sense of the work our students do, read the current student activities, and learn about our curriculum.

U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents must apply online to the Graduate School and submit the additional application materials to the School by January 15.

The School does not have a separate application deadline for international students. All MDes application materials are due to the School by January 15.

Applications are reviewed by a committee of faculty members in the concentration (visual communication design, industrial design or interaction design) to which you apply.

Shortlisted candidates are usually contacted by email or phone in mid March. Offers of admission to the MDes program are typically mailed out in early April, due to a lengthier candidate interview schedule.

Most application materials become the property of the University of Washington and are kept on file for one calendar year.

All admitted students must notify the School of their decision in writing by May 1. In accordance with the Council of Graduate Schools, students who have been offered scholarships, fellowships and/or teaching assistantships are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15.

After the School notifies the Graduate School of your intent to enroll in our MDes program, the Graduate School will send you an admissions letter which will include information about submitting your non-refundable enrollment confirmation fee. It is due to the University of Washington Registrar by June 1. This fee is credited to your tuition account upon registration for classes.

MDes alumni work in a range of corporations, organizations and institutions. General areas of work include services/products companies (e.g. Blackboard Insurance, IKEA, SK Holdings, Vacasa) , technology corporations (e.g. Amazon, Epic Games, Google, Microsoft, Xerox Parc), design studios and agencies (e.g. Cognition Studio, Studio Matthews, Symplicit), non profit organizations (e.g. Chan Zuckeberg Initiative, Charles Wright Academy), and in publishing (e.g. Pearson Books). Some MDes alumni also go into academic institutions (e.g. University of Kentucky, Pacific Lutheran University, University of Washington).

For more details, you can visit our Design Alumni website.  →

Yes. Once you graduate from the MDes program, you are well qualified to apply for lecturer, adjunct, and faculty positions at the university level. In addition, if you held teaching assistantship positions during your time at the University of Washington, this experience plays an important role demonstrating your capacity as a design instructor.

No. In the same way that MDes students enter the program with a range of expertise and areas of interest in design, they leave the program with new perspectives on design but still a lot of flexibility on the areas of design they want to work in.