Best UX Design Master's Degree Programs 2026

Best UX Design Programs - Top 10 Master's — Complete Program Data

1. #1. Carnegie Mellon University Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks Carnegie Mellon University as the #1 master's in ux design degree program. Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Type: Private | Tuition: $62,260/year | Graduation Rate: 98% | Score: 100.0

   What makes Carnegie Mellon University stand out: CMU created the world's first Master of Human-Computer Interaction program and has graduated over 1,200 professionals who are now defining how humans interact with technology across leading companies worldwide.

   Program Overview: Carnegie Mellon University offers two distinct pathways for UX design education, each representing a pioneering approach to human-computer interaction. The Master of Human-Computer Interaction (MHCI) stands as the world's first and longest-running program dedicated to preparing professionals for HCI and user experience careers, completed in just three intensive semesters over one calendar year (August to August). This interdisciplinary program draws students from diverse backgrounds in design, social science, business, and computer science, culminating in a seven-month industry capstone project with external clients that alumni consistently praise as career-defining. Alternatively, the Master of Design in Design for Interactions (MDes) offers a two-year, four-semester journey for design professionals with at least one year of industry experience. This program focuses on the 'big picture' of designing for interactions within communities, organizations, and systems, emphasizing research-driven design thinking. Students complete an independent thesis project under faculty mentorship, exploring everything from food citizenship transitions to tactile navigation systems for the visually impaired.

   Degree Programs: Master of Human-Computer Interaction (MHCI) (1 year (3 semesters)); Master of Design in Design for Interactions (MDes) (2 years (4 semesters))

   Research Labs: Human-Computer Interaction Institute - Hub for HCI innovation, education, and research with faculty driving and defining the world of HCI

   Career Outcomes: | Common Roles: user researchers, experience designers, product managers, entrepreneurs, business owners, software developers

   Admissions:

   Accreditations: STEM designation for MHCI

2. #2. University of Central Florida Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks University of Central Florida as the #2 master's in ux design degree program. Location: Orlando, FL | Type: Public | Tuition: $4,478/year | Graduation Rate: 93% | Score: 82.5

   What makes University of Central Florida stand out: While UCF lacks a dedicated UX Design program, it uniquely positions students through America's Space University innovation ecosystem and the #1-ranked Interactive Entertainment program at FIEA, offering unparalleled access to Orlando's entertainment and technology industries.

   Hakia Insight: University of Central Florida leverages partnerships with NASA and Central Florida Research Park to offer students real-world project experience valued by employers.

   Program Overview: The University of Central Florida does not offer a dedicated UX Design master's program among its 90+ graduate degree options. However, UCF provides several related programs that could serve UX Design aspirants. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Emerging Media offers tracks in Studio Art and Design as well as Animation and Visual Effects, housed within the College of Arts and Humanities. For those interested in the technical side of user experience, the College of Engineering and Computer Science offers an MS in Computer Science and an innovative MS in Interactive Entertainment through the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) located in downtown Orlando. The Interactive Entertainment program, ranked #1 nationally by The Princeton Review and PC Gamer magazine, focuses on game design, programming, and 3D artistry while developing problem-solving and project management skills under world-renowned faculty.

   Degree Programs: MFA in Emerging Media - Studio Art and Design (2-3 years); MS in Interactive Entertainment (2 years); MS in Computer Science (2 years)

   Research Labs: Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) - World-class facility for game design and interactive entertainment; Institute for Simulation & Training (IST) - VR/AR/XR, Human-Centered Design, and Advanced Modeling & Simulation

   Industry Partners: NASA, Central Florida Research Park, Entertainment Industry

   Career Outcomes: | Common Roles: UI/UX Designer, Brand Manager, Motion Graphics Designer, Identity Designer, Editorial Designer

   Notable Faculty: Chad Walker (UI/UX design, game design, conceptual design - creator of award-winning games including Age of Empires)

   Admissions:

3. #3. Purdue University-Main Campus Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks Purdue University-Main Campus as the #3 master's in ux design degree program. Location: West Lafayette, IN | Type: Public | Tuition: $9,718/year | Graduation Rate: 83% | Score: 76.9

   What makes Purdue University-Main Campus stand out: Purdue's UX Design program provides students with 3.5 years of real-world client experience through its unique Experience Studio model, while ranking #6 nationally and #2 in the Midwest for UX/UI/HCI programs according to Animation Career Review 2024.

   Hakia Insight: Purdue University-Main Campus's industry network — including Oracle Corp. and Microsoft — provides students with internship and hiring pathways.

   Program Overview: Purdue University's UX Design program, housed within the School of Applied and Creative Computing at the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, offers a distinctive Bachelor of Science degree that emphasizes hands-on, industry-connected learning. What sets this program apart is its dual-studio approach: Learning Studios where students hone fundamental skills, and Experience Studios where they tackle real-world projects with industry sponsors. Students graduate with an impressive 3.5 years of practical experience working with actual clients, building robust portfolios through projects like designing portable DJing features for Spotify or collaborating with medical startups on product development. The program's curriculum spans user research, visual and interaction design, advanced prototyping, and cross-channel strategies, with courses ranging from imaging technology and web development to advanced UX design studios and data visualization. Students can even graduate in three years through Purdue's accelerated Degree in 3 program. The program benefits from Purdue's strong industry connections, placing graduates at major tech companies while maintaining the intimate, close-knit environment that comes with smaller class sizes and direct faculty mentorship from experts like Professor Paul Parsons, recently honored as Most Distinguished Faculty for Research.

   Degree Programs: BS in Computer Science with HCI focus (4 years); MS in Human-Computer Interaction (through Graduate School) (2 years)

   Research Labs: Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory - Usability research, accessibility, interaction design methods

   Industry Partners: Oracle Corp., Microsoft, Salesforce, Citigroup Inc., BraunAbility, Google, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase

   Career Outcomes: | Top Employers: Google, Amazon, Salesforce, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase

   Notable Faculty: Lorraine Kisselburgh (Design thinking, human-centered innovation, stakeholder engagement)

   Admissions: GPA: 3.5 minimum for transfer students

4. #4. Texas A & M University-College Station Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks Texas A & M University-College Station as the #4 master's in ux design degree program. Location: College Station, TX | Type: Public | Tuition: $9,003/year | Graduation Rate: 84% | Score: 68.2

   What makes Texas A & M University-College Station stand out: Texas A&M Visualization is one of only a handful of programs nationwide that equally stresses both technical and artistic aspects of digital media, with an unrivaled track record in student placement at top animation studios and an intensive Summer Industry Course where students work 10 weeks under mentorship from professionals at ILM, Pixar, Disney, and Dreamworks.

   Hakia Insight: Texas A & M University-College Station's industry network — including Industrial Light & Magic and Pixar — provides students with internship and hiring pathways.

   Program Overview: Texas A&M's Master of Science in Visualization sits within the College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts, representing a unique fusion of art and technology that few universities offer at the graduate level. This 32-credit program integrates artistic creativity with scientific rigor, preparing students to become 'technical artists' through studio-based coursework spanning computer animation, interactive design, user experience design, virtual reality, and data visualization. Students can choose between thesis and non-thesis tracks, with the thesis option requiring 8 hours of research culminating in a public defense, while the non-thesis route focuses on a practical capstone project executed over one semester. The program typically takes two years to complete and is offered exclusively on-campus in College Station, emphasizing hands-on learning through creative application.

   Degree Programs: BS; MFA; MS; PhD

   Research Labs: Virtual Production Institute - Virtual production techniques for entertainment media, architectural visualization, manufacturing, and live performances; Institute for Applied Creativity - Interdisciplinary research at the intersection of arts and technology

   Industry Partners: Industrial Light & Magic, Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, Rhythm & Hues, Reel FX

   Career Outcomes: | Common Roles: visual development, production management, asset development, technical artistry, UI/UX development, game design, game level design, game asset development

   Notable Faculty: Dr. Tracy Anne Hammond (Computer Science & Engineering, Sketch Recognition)

   Admissions:

5. #5. Harvard University Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks Harvard University as the #5 master's in ux design degree program. Location: Cambridge, MA | Type: Private | Tuition: $54,269/year | Score: 67.9

   What makes Harvard University stand out: Harvard's UX design education spans three schools with unique approaches: performance-based admission at Extension School where you earn your way in through coursework, research-focused Design Studies with collaborative advanced projects, and the interdisciplinary Design Engineering program that uniquely combines Harvard's design and engineering schools to tackle global challenges.

   Hakia Insight: Harvard University's Healthy Places Lab creates a direct research-to-career pipeline with Real-world industry partners, bridging academic research and industry practice.

   Program Overview: Harvard offers multiple pathways into UX and digital design through three distinct programs housed in different schools. The Digital Media Design Master's program at Harvard Extension School provides a flexible, performance-based admission path leading to a Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) degree, with 11 of 12 courses available online and just one weekend or 3-week summer requirement on campus. For those seeking a more research-intensive approach, the Graduate School of Design offers the Master in Design Studies (MDes), a four-semester program with no studios that emphasizes collaborative advanced research across four domains: Ecologies, Narratives, Publics, and Mediums. The most interdisciplinary option is the Master in Design Engineering (MDE), a joint program between the Graduate School of Design and the Paulson School of Engineering that combines creative design thinking with analytical engineering to address complex global challenges. What sets Harvard apart is its unique performance-based admissions model for the Extension program, where students 'earn their way in' by completing coursework that counts toward the degree, and the collaborative nature of the MDE program that brings together Harvard's design and engineering powerhouses. The Extension program particularly stands out for working professionals, with faculty receiving 4.5 out of 5 ratings and 96% of recent graduates recommending the program.

   Degree Programs: Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Digital Media Design (2-5 years); Master in Design Studies (MDes) (2 years); Master in Design Engineering (MDE) (1.5-2 years)

   Research Labs: Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities - Sustainable design and environmental research; Healthy Places Lab - Design for health and wellbeing; Just City Lab - Equitable urban design and social justice

   Industry Partners: Real-world industry partners

   Career Outcomes:

   Notable Faculty: Kara Keene (Design strategy and organizational change)

   Admissions: GPA: Undergraduate degree required for all programs | Acceptance Rate: Performance-based admission for Extension program

6. #6. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks University of Michigan-Ann Arbor as the #6 master's in ux design degree program. Location: Ann Arbor, MI | Type: Public | Tuition: $17,977/year | Graduation Rate: 92% | Score: 67.9

   What makes University of Michigan-Ann Arbor stand out: Unable to determine unique characteristics without relevant source content about the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor's UX Design program.

   Hakia Insight: Students at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor benefit from active collaborations with Google and Meta (Facebook), connecting classroom learning to the workforce.

   Program Overview: I was unable to find specific information about the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor's UX Design program in the provided source content. The source material appears to be from Michigan State University's Career Services Network, focusing on general career outcomes for bachelor's degree recipients across all programs rather than specific program details for UX Design at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Without access to relevant source content about U-M's UX Design offerings, I cannot provide accurate program details, faculty information, or curriculum specifics.

   Degree Programs: BS in Computer Science with HCI specialization (4 years); MS in Computer Science with HCI focus (2 years)

   Research Labs: Computer Science and Engineering Division HCI group - Human-computer interaction, accessibility, novel interaction techniques

   Industry Partners: Google, Meta (Facebook)

   Career Outcomes: | Top Employers: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Amazon | Common Roles: UX Designer, Interaction Designer, User Researcher, Design Researcher, Product Designer

   Notable Faculty: null (Accessible design and assistive technology)

   Admissions:

   Accreditations: ABET accredited (Computer Science)

7. #7. Columbia University in the City of New York Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks Columbia University in the City of New York as the #7 master's in ux design degree program. Location: New York, NY | Type: Private | Tuition: $64,526/year | Graduation Rate: 100% | Score: 67.3

   What makes Columbia University in the City of New York stand out: While Columbia lacks a standalone UX Design program, it offers unique opportunities to engage in UX research through its medical center's innovative health informatics projects, where students work on translating complex medical concepts into user-friendly interfaces.

   Program Overview: Based on the available sources, Columbia University does not appear to offer a dedicated UX Design program through its traditional academic departments. The sources reveal extensive online and on-campus programs across Columbia's School of Professional Studies, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Business School, and other divisions, but no specific UX Design degree programs are mentioned. However, there is evidence of UX-related research opportunities, particularly through the Department of Biomedical Informatics, where student research workers assist with user experience research, usability testing, and interface design for healthcare applications. The university's Strategic Communication program at the School of Professional Studies does incorporate some design thinking elements, but it focuses primarily on communication strategy rather than user experience design.

   Degree Programs: MS in Strategic Communication (16 months)

   Research Labs: Department of Biomedical Informatics UX Research - User-centered design for healthcare applications and decision support tools

   Industry Partners: National Cancer Institute

   Admissions:

8. #8. Syracuse University Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks Syracuse University as the #8 master's in ux design degree program. Location: Syracuse, NY | Type: Private | Tuition: $61,310/year | Graduation Rate: 99% | Score: 66.6

   What makes Syracuse University stand out: Syracuse's UX program uniquely emphasizes narrative design and audience psychology, preparing designers to create engaging media products and content platforms rather than purely transactional interfaces.

   Hakia Insight: Syracuse University's industry network — including Microsoft and IBM — provides students with internship and hiring pathways.

   Program Overview: Syracuse's S.I. Newhouse School and School of Information Studies collaborate to offer a media-centric perspective on UX design that reflects the region's broadcasting and digital media heritage. The program emphasizes storytelling, narrative design, and audience psychology alongside interaction fundamentals—a distinction that appeals to students interested in media products, content platforms, streaming services, and entertainment tech. Students work with faculty who have professional backgrounds in television production, digital journalism, and media strategy, bringing production-world sensibility to their design pedagogy. The curriculum integrates user research methodologies grounded in audience analytics and ethnographic study; students learn to design not just interfaces but experiences that engage and retain audiences. Internship and employment pathways lean heavily toward media companies, streaming platforms, and entertainment-adjacent tech firms in New York and Los Angeles, though Syracuse's alumni network reaches into broader tech hubs. Capstone projects often involve redesigning digital media properties, designing for emerging platforms, or building interactive applications rooted in storytelling. The program is particularly well-suited for students interested in designing products for creators, audiences, or media organizations—or for designers who want to infuse their work with narrative and emotional depth. Syracuse's location provides access to robust digital media and tech recruiting, especially in the Northeast.

   Degree Programs: Bachelors in Ux Design

   Industry Partners: Microsoft, IBM

   Career Outcomes: | Top Employers: Ford, Amazon, Reebok, Google, IBM Design, Fjord/Accenture, IDEO, Frog Design, Continuum Innovation, Microsoft, TikTok, Visa, GitHub, Blue Origin

   Admissions:

9. #9. University of Florida Master's UX Design Program

   Hakia ranks University of Florida as the #9 master's in ux design degree program. Location: Gainesville, FL | Type: Public | Tuition: $4,477/year | Graduation Rate: 95% | Score: 63.7

   What makes University of Florida stand out: Dynamic, research-driven program where creativity meets critical thinking, rooted in experimentation and driven by purpose with a future-focused approach that challenges students to design with intention

   Program Overview: UF offers graphic design programs focused on research-driven, community-centered design practice with over 50 years of history. The programs blend studio practice, collaboration and design research to foster work that is socially conscious, sustainable and innovative.

   Degree Programs: BFA (4 years); MFA (MxD); MA

   Research Labs: Mint Design Studio - research-driven, community-centered design practice

   Career Outcomes: | Common Roles: UI/UX, art/creative direction, information design, editorial design, design strategy

   Notable Faculty: Maria Rogal (Professor, Graphic Design/Design & Visual Communications); Dori Griffin (Associate Professor, Graphic Design/Design & Visual Communications); Eury Kim (Assistant Professor, Graphic Design/Design & Visual Communications); Brian L. Slawson (Associate Professor, Graphic Design/Design & Visual Communications)

   Admissions:

10. #10. The University of Texas at Dallas Master's UX Design Program

    Hakia ranks The University of Texas at Dallas as the #10 master's in ux design degree program. Location: Richardson, TX | Type: Public | Tuition: $14,564/year | Graduation Rate: 77% | Score: 59.8

    What makes The University of Texas at Dallas stand out: UT Dallas uniquely positions UX design within a broader arts-technology ecosystem, offering the only Certificate in Applied Experience Design and Research that can be paired with any major, while housing cutting-edge research labs like the VAST VR Lab that collaborates with the FAA on aerospace maintenance applications.

    Hakia Insight: The University of Texas at Dallas graduates earn $5,900,096,000, driven by the program's industry connections and hands-on ux design curriculum.

    Program Overview: The University of Texas at Dallas offers UX Design education through multiple pathways across different schools, creating a comprehensive ecosystem for aspiring user experience professionals. The primary offering is the Certificate in Applied Experience Design and Research through the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology, which emphasizes practical, human-centered thinking and provides insight into creating intuitive digital experiences. This certificate can be pursued alongside other degrees or as a standalone credential. Students can also explore UX design through the Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication (ATEC) program - recently rebranded as Media Arts and Design (MAD) effective Fall 2025 - which offers concentrations in Emerging Media Arts at the undergraduate level and Creative Practice at the MFA level. The interdisciplinary approach blends art, technology, design, engineering, science, and humanities to create innovative solutions in an idea-driven maker-culture environment.

    Degree Programs: Certificate; BA in Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication (ATEC) (4 years); BA in Media Arts and Design (MAD) (4 years); MA in Media Arts and Design; MFA in Media Arts and Design; PhD in Media Arts and Design; Certificate in Applied Experience Design and Research (4 courses)

    Research Labs: ArtSciLab - Transdisciplinary research at the intersection of art and science, user experience design; 3D Studio - Three-dimensional design and modeling; Anechoic Chamber and Transmedia Studio - Audio and transmedia production; experimenta.l. Animation Lab - Animation research and production; LabSynthE - Synthesis and emerging media; MENARAH - Research lab activities; Mograph Lab - Motion graphics research; Narrative Systems Research Lab - Narrative and storytelling systems; Public Interactives Research Lab (PIRL) - Public interactive media; The Studio for Mediating Play - Play and game-based interactions; VAST Lab - Extended Reality (XR) research for aerospace maintenance; Research in Art, Rematerialization + Ecology (RARE) - Art, ecology, and rematerialization

    Industry Partners: Dell Technologies, Capital One, Intuit, Sabre, Cisco Systems, AT&T, Siemens, General Motors, Fossil, J.C. Penney, Visionist Inc., FAA

    Career Outcomes: | Top Employers: Dell Technologies, Capital One, Sabre, Cisco Systems, AT&T, Siemens, General Motors, Fossil, J.C. Penney | Common Roles: UX Designer

    Notable Faculty: Norm Cox (Professor of Practice, Design)

    Admissions: