Everything You Need to Know About the Best Five Art & Design Schools in the World

Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranks as Best University in the World for 2017 (an achievement they’ve managed to maintain for five years in a row) and takes second place in the Art & Design rankings. 

This is an outstanding institution to study your creative degree with a long list of talented alumni and an impressive mission statement to match. The university says: “The arts at MIT connect creative minds across disciplines and encourage a lifetime of exploration and self-discovery. They are rooted in experimentation, risk-taking and imaginative problem-solving.”

First-class facilities and benefits await you here, ranging from a museum and visual research centre hosting innovative exhibitions, to a whole host of competitions, grants and awards. 

Up one place from 2016 is New York-based Parsons School of Design, offering a range of cross-disciplinary creative Art & Design courses.

As if studying in the Big Apple wasn't inspiring enough, the school also offers a research-led culture that puts them at the forefront of the arts. While at Parsons you’re not only challenged to become a master of your craft, but also to create “more reflectively, resourcefully, and responsibly than you ever have before.”

Mentoring, practical experience and building links with external industry are also at the heart of Parson’s courses. The opportunity to study at their European campus in Paris is also available, giving you the chance to experience a different continent and culture.

Rhode Island School of Design is conveniently sandwiched between the cultural hubs of Boston and New York in the vibrant and arty city of Providence.

As one of the most long standing Art & Design colleges in the USA (founded in 1877), RISD has a strong sense of history, with a mission to “make lasting contributions to a global society through critical thinking, scholarship and innovation.”

Alongside an art museum and one of the longest-standing independent art college libraries in the USA, RISD also offers a Nature Lab.  Designed as a resource for exploring the “patterns, structures and interactions of designs in nature”, the lab offers a unique way to enhance your studies.

Last but not least is Pratt Institute, a New York based school and “living lab of craft and creativity”with three campuses in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Utica.

Lecturers and alumni include a long list of well-respected artists, designers and scholars. Studying at Pratt will give you access to an institute whose “interdisciplinary curriculum promotes collaborative and creative strategies for design thinking and provides students with unparalleled training facilities.” 

Pratt offers an eclectic range of arts programs ranging from Photography and Fashion to Creative Arts Therapy and Urban Design.

Emily Valentine writes for Inspiring Interns, a graduate recruitment agency which specializes in sourcing candidates for internships and giving out graduate careers advice. To browse their graduate jobs, visit their website.