FAQ

You will be a part of a select cohort of peers working in industries and in positions at the intersection of design, innovation, and business. In addition, you will study management topics in the context of design-driven processes and innovation, in both local and global settings. Finally and most importantly, you will learn about the management of design and innovation not through an add-on elective or concentration but in depth throughout the program.

The program has a cohort-based, one-course-at-a-time format that offers you a supportive community, a clear path to completion, and an accessible, flexible way to achieve your goals without leaving your day job. In fact, you will only need to step away from your desk for 18 days in the course of the program.

With an international reach that spans multiple continents and a student body that makes the university one of the most globally diverse in the United States, Parsons is an industry leader in its culture and its commitment to offering its students a learning experience rich in opportunities for global engagement. As a member of our cohort of global executives, you'll have the chance to take full advantage of Parsons' network of interconnected design laboratories and international business partners from urban hubs based in Paris, New York, and Asia. Based in three of the most vibrant creative economies in the world, the program takes full advantage of each city, offering extraordinary educational, cultural, and professional opportunities from day one of the program.

Even in today’s highly digital business environment, success in enterprise relies on human connections. As a member of our class of creative and business professionals, you will learn side by side with peers from many diverse industries—and those looking to lead change in the dynamic new global creative economy. As you progress through the program in a small, intimate, and selective cohort, the relationships you develop in the studio will flourish into a network you can build upon for years to come.

To succeed in 21st-century commerce and industry, you need to develop new approaches to solving problems, streamlining systems, and identifying opportunities for growth. The MS in Strategic Design for Global Leadership, with its design-led approach to learning and global reach, is at the forefront of preparing working professionals to take on the mantle of creative leadership in their companies.

Whether you want to start your own company or rethink business practice within an organization, this program enables you to develop entrepreneurial skills with which to effectively challenge traditional frameworks and lead change in the new creative economy. In the program, you use real-world scenarios as the basis for creative and strategic studio projects; everything you learn will be relevant and applicable to your current business context—all without taking you away from your desk on most weekdays, allowing you to maintain maximum productivity with minimal sacrifice.

If you're a busy working professional who wants to build his or her background in strategic management, you've found the right program. Brilliant design is about creating harmony between component parts — an ethos that lives at the very core of our program, especially when it comes to building our courses around your schedule.

Our innovative module-based format is both immersive and flexible. Specially tailored to meet the learning styles and preferences of today’s working professional, it requires you to be away from your office for only 18 days.

Spanning a year and a half, the program kicks off with intensives at our Paris campus, interspersed with immersive weekends of accelerated learning and supplemental integrative week-long studio intensives in New York and Asia. It has a cohort-based, one-course-at-a-time model that provides a supportive community and clear path to completion—all without requiring you to leave your job. 

Yes. In addition to a bachelor’s degree, you must have a minimum of five years’ work experience in any industry. A letter of recommendation from a current supervisor is requested with your application.

No, but the real-world, project-based nature of the curriculum enables students to shape their learning in the context of their own professional challenges.

No, because all courses are blended. Each seven-week course begins with a three-day (Friday–Sunday) face-to-face seminar in Paris that is followed by online interaction with faculty and fellow students. Each of the two 11-week studio courses includes a week-long intensive on-site in Asia.

The MS in Strategic Design for Global Leadership is designed for the working professional, requiring only 18 days away from the office. It is structured around six seven-week courses that begin with in-person seminars at our Paris campus, followed by online interaction with faculty and fellow students and punctuated by two 11-week studio courses—in New York City and Asia—providing an immersive global experience including design challenges with major international corporations and organizations. The program is also STEM designated. 

The MS in Strategic Design and Management curriculum is designed for early-career professionals and is offered as an integrated and highly structured nine-credit-per-semester course of study. Students can complete the program on campus in New York City, fully online, or through a combination of online and on-site modules. The New York City location provides participants with opportunities to connect to organizations, businesses, and entrepreneurs driving creative activity and commerce through classes, internships, and extracurricular projects.

Yes; an application is required. Admission requirements are as follows:

• Minimum five years of professional work experience
• Undergraduate university degree
• Proof of English language proficiency (TOEFL or equivalent English proficiency test)—exemptions for native speakers, those who have studied at an English-speaking university, and those currently working in an English-speaking workplace

Yes; an interview is required. You will be contacted after you submit your application to schedule an interview.

For information on program tuition please visit Tuition & Payment. 

Find information on tuition payment plans.

Find information on employer payment.

This program is eligible for financial aid. You need to first complete the FAFSA. For more information please visit financial aid. 

Participants are welcome to seek out private educational loans. For further questions about this please contact the Office of Financial Aid at [email protected].

For information on the drop and withdrawal policies please visit the registration website.

Student visas are not required for this program.