The College of Design has approximately 250 graduate and post-graduate students, accounting for about 25 percent of the total student population. Graduate students pursue professional master’s degrees in five discipline areas: Architecture, Art + Design, Landscape Architecture, Graphic Design and Industrial Design. Most entering graduate students hold design-related undergraduate degrees, but many do not. These exceptions to the rule may be scientists, communication specialists, educators, engineers and others who are pursuing a new career.

The Ph.D. in Design program, which is among the very few of its kind in the United States, offers concentrations in Information Design, as well as Community and Environmental Design. The scholarly oriented program explores such topics as human-environment interfacing, behavioral studies, and urban issues. Graduates holding this degree will be valuable to college and university programs and to government, business and industrial organizations that require the intellectual rigor, knowledge, and investigative skills developed by doctoral study. Graduates conduct research aimed at improving the quality of design in urban and rural communities, improving people’s understanding and interpretation of their social and ecological environment, and improving visual communication and product development technology aimed at meeting human needs.

A unique relationship exists at the College of Design between designers and state extension agents. The Research, Extension and Sponsored Programs unit offers a vibrant training ground for scholarly and professional work. Here, faculty researchers assist communities across North Carolina and beyond. They are called upon for expertise in land use planning, watershed planning, environmental design, design of public spaces, universal design, computer modeling technology, and more. All projects utilize the energetic network of design faculty and students, an important resource to the state’s Cooperative Extension program.