UC Design: Top Ranked in a World Class!

The Oct. 15, 2007, issue of BusinessWeek magazine contains a special report on the globe’s top innovation and design schools. This “D-School” report card includes a listing of the world’s top design programs.

The University of Cincinnati not only made that list of the globe’s leading design programs (all ranked in alphabetical order), but UC also leads in BusinessWeek’s accompanying article as the model for design programs that are shaping a new generation of creative managers. There’s more:  A prominent UC project – the building of a solar house by students – is also featured as BusinessWeek’s innovation slide show.

Last year was the first in which BusinessWeek released its annual design rankings, and this is the second year in a row that UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) – specifically the college’s School of Design – has been so recognized.

This 2007 special report recognizes not only the opportunities for UC design students to partner with corporate clients while in the classroom but also the university’s

cooperative education program

or “co-op” as it is known. Via UC’s co-op program – ranked in the nation’s

Top Ten

by

U.S. News & World Report

– design students routinely alternate academic quarters in the classroom with quarters of professionally paid work in leading design firms and in corporations around the world.

According to BusinessWeek’s coverage, the best design programs in the world – like UC – educate “people who are comfortable with complexity and uncertainty. Schools that teach design thinking, with its emphasis on maximizing possibilities rather than managing for efficiency… .”

To arrive at this “first-in-a-world-class listing,” the magazine consulted innovation consultants, design teachers and corporate executives. Who made the cut? Programs that enable students to engage with the real world through sponsored projects and internships; that were tuned into contemporary business issues; and those whose graduates have proven themselves to be creative designers, strategists and leaders.

• Read the BusinessWeek coverage/slide show and the list of the world’s top design schools.

• Read another survey, from DesignIntelligence, regarding UC’s design reputation.

• Read recent coverage where a UC student made history as the first student to win “Best of Show” in a global design competition co-sponsored by BusinessWeek and VOTE in that contest.

• Apply to UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.