Editor’s note: This listing was updated on November 2, 2022.

OVERVIEW

ArtCenter College of Design prides itself on combining the “pursuit of extraordinary design and making skills with the knowledge, theories and methods that are essential for creating new value for enterprise and social innovation.” It offers undergraduate degrees in Product, Spatial Experience, Transportation, and Interaction Design; graduate degrees are focused on Industrial Design, Spatial Experience Design and Transportation Systems and Design.

Taking a systems-level approach, the demanding school has a boot-camp reputation – and the results are undeniable. Alumni have gone on to work for companies as well known as Netflix and Samsung. With a focus on strategic innovation, the school enables its students to become invaluable and hireable the moment they graduate. Its unique selection of courses gives students the opportunity to apply their design skills to develop brand new innovations, whether it’s creating VR headsets in M2 Studio or prepping for 3D Development 3’s Formula E competition – a beloved tradition at ArtCenter that sees students using 3D modelling software to construct and race model cars.

Notable alumni

Yves Béhar, Martin Lotti (Nike), Wilhelm Oehl and Tim Kobe (Apple), film concept artist Neville Page, Michelle Christensen (Acura), Franz Von Holzhausen (Tesla)

Notable Faculty

Roosevelt Brown, Shawn Campbell, James Chu, Chiara Ferrari, George Kordaris, Matt Neri, Leonard Wozniak, Jini Zopf