Parsons School of Design

What does creativity mean to you?

It may start with how you see the world—your place in it, what you find beautiful, what is worth protecting, what needs to change. It may be how you express your ideas and feelings through images, things, and action. Creativity may be a means of connecting with others who share your passion. Or it may be a personal place of self-discovery. In any case, it’s important enough to bring you here, to the point of deciding how to take your creativity to the next level and begin a new chapter.

We’d like to show you what creativity looks like at Parsons. Find out why we believe art and design transforms us— and the world.

Welcome to Parsons. We’re designing a World you Want to live in.

Parsons School of Design—consistently ranked among the top art and design schools in the United States and around the globe—has sent changemaking artists and designers out into the world since its founding more than 120 years ago. Today we’re part of The New School, a comprehensive university in New York City offering programs in subjects ranging from the liberal arts and humanities to the performing arts to media, management, and more. Here and at our Parsons Paris campus, a diverse community channels its creative and critical talents into fostering a more equitable, sustainable, and beautiful world through innovative art, design, architecture, and design management.

What does learning here look like? We champion radical experimentation. We ask bold questions with no easy answers. We see failure as a stepping stone to innovation and a life in art, design, and business. We make interdisciplinary art and design practice relevant to society today. We partner with forwardthinking people and organizations. The “New” in “The New School” reminds us to stay ahead of changes in the world and fearlessly imagine what could be.

5,600+

total Parsons student enrollment (4,500+ undergraduate; 1,100+ graduate), making us the largest AICAD-certified1 school in the United States2

“ The whole university is committed to breaking down silos and rules to arrive at a better future faster.”

—Joel Towers, University Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Design

art and design school in NYC and second in the United States3

We create in ways that improve the world by—

• Focusing on people, biodiversity, and our interconnected ecosystem

• Collaborating in creative processes that build in inclusion, equity, empathy, and justice

• Understanding that materials matter in a world facing climate change and calling for innovative ways of working

• Recognizing the power of creativity to foster community health, wellness, and justice

Our community is diverse and international. We come from around the world and enrich learning with our own backgrounds, traditions, perspectives, and practices. You’ll find creative peers—queer and gender nonconforming, secular and religious, extroverted and introverted, politically astute and politically questioning, people of all ethnic and class backgrounds—in any classroom.

First U.S. school to offer programs in fashion design, graphic design, interior design, and lighting design and a BBA in design

The city is your classroom. Courses take you out into one of the world’s most dynamic, creative, and innovative urban centers: New York City. You work directly with NYC’s groundbreaking people and organizations, draw on materials and resources found only here, and experience art and design whose impact reverberates worldwide. And to expand your global perspective, you can study at Parsons Paris, our Paris campus; learn with our study abroad partners; or take a course taught overseas.

Only U.S. art and design school within a major research university

“I wanted a truly interdisciplinary degree, along with the many opportunities that Parsons—and New York City—provide.”

—Isabella, BFA Architectural Design student

a community tHat e X tends Beyond camPus

You will meet peers and have the chance to form communities in various ways—in classes, school-led events, and clubs and organizations, including ones focused on school governance, student publications, and special interests and affiliations. Exercise classes, wellness activities, and sports also enrich your social life.

Parsons alums are a vital part of your new community. They’re active in NYC, in Paris, and in 112 countries around the world. Reunions and school events invite graduates back to campus to socialize, share their experience, and help current students find internships and jobs.

“ The value of being at Parsons and involving the NYC community is that people here engage with new tools and begin thinking about how to make them more relevant to the world today.”

—Jeongki Lim, Assistant Professor of Strategic Design and Management

most international student population (47%) in our category¹

International students have access to support from our International Student and Scholar Services team, who help admitted students with everything from getting visa paperwork together to finding community on campus.

Our Student S O n C O mmunity

For a recent Parsons collaborative project with Common Era, a nonprofit organization, students explored ideas about belonging and community.

“Being surrounded by creatives in global city, known for its diversity, and vibrancy, always encourages creating, keep exploring, and keep —Sammi, BFA Illustration student

41 ,000+

Parsons graduates worldwide

1 Among schools with an enrollment of more than 10,000 students (U.S. News and World Report, 2022–2023); percentage is from all 2022 enrollment figures.

a Home in nyc

Parsons isn’t just in New York City—it’s in Greenwich Village, a dynamic center of artistic life. Known for the groundbreaking galleries, literary cafés, and jazz venues that fill its tree-lined streets, the Village has drawn freethinkers from all over for decades. The setting creates the feeling that inspiration and innovation are just around the corner. If you want to explore further, you can take advantage of major subway hubs minutes from your building or residence hall. If you’re studying online, you benefit from access to the city through coursework and faculty who bring in industry professionals, resources, and creative challenges specific to NYC.

Parsons’ many connections to city partners—sustainability experts at the United Nations, curators at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, speakers at our public programs, and Google leaders, to name a few—give you access to changemakers and rare opportunities to work on real-world projects. The city becomes your classroom, with its creative leaders as your professors.

ne W SCHOOL B ui L din GS

22

32

33 Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall

34 Arnhold Hall/College of Performing Arts

Sheila C. Johnson Design

Center/Parsons School of Design

35 2 West 13th Street

36 39 West 13th Street

37 68 Fifth Avenue

38 66 Fifth Avenue

such a diversity, innovation, encourages me to keep keep improving.”

“In New York’s Garment Center, you can have a sample made traveling just a few blocks; so many specialists are concentrated in one place.”

—Anna Sui, BFA Fashion Design ’84

tHe making center: Holding sPace For creativity

Making is how we learn and bring ideas to life. It’s how we develop every thing from computer games to hand-sewn clothes to new business models and theories on streetwear. At Parsons, making happens everywhere—in classroom discussions, out in Union Square, during study abroad research, all over campus.

To give our community the space and tools needed for all forms of creativity, we carved out a total of 78,000 square feet on whole floors throughout campus. Called the Making Center, the facilities house ample studios, light-filled workspaces, and stations equipped with traditional and contemporary tools for all media. You can gather there with peers day or night, check out selected equipment for off-campus work, and have materials delivered there.

equipment stations and labs

An expansive photo studio lets you stage anything from a sprawling group portrait session to an intimate still life to document work for your portfolio. Printers output photos of up to 58 inches by 120 inches (and even print on fabric). A dedicated space lets you check color and mount images. You can explore analog photo processing in our renovated darkroom.

Hand and power tools stationed at one end of a Making Center floor let you cut, drill, bend, rout, lathe, and sand wood—one of the most sustainable materials available— and work in metal. At the other end are 3D printers handling

ranging from clay to traditional filaments.

Lab techs train you in the use of our extensive range of tools—woodworking hand tools, CNC laser routers, motion-capture gear, business collaboration software, photo and printmaking tools, sewing machines and digital looms, and many others—and help you transform your concepts into finished work.

newschool.edu/parsons/making-center

“My favorite time in the Making Center when it’s sunny and clear; you can see State Building just up Fifth Avenue.”

—Eva, technician, Wood and Metal Shops

Future in tHe making

From your first days in a Parsons undergraduate program, you’re in the Making Center, being trained in using tools and getting acquainted with new techniques and fellow students. You work with your hands, experimenting and learning about the impact of materials on your creativity—and on the planet. Hands-on learning is a key part of your education, and it’s often the way you refine your concepts and discover new media and tools.

If you’re in a graduate program, the Making Center provides space to collaborate and equipment for working on complex and even larger projects.

In many ways, the Making Center also offers you an immersion in daily life as a working design professional, in which collaborating with others— including technicians and team members—is how projects get done.

At Parsons, making often begins with and results in research, and our libraries, computer labs, archives, research centers, and exhibitions support your learning. Want to work with new sustainable biomaterials? You can research them in the library, work with them in the Making Center, and see experiments by other makers on view in our galleries. Interested in environmentalism in interior design? You can find related documents in The New School Archives and explore non-toxic building supplies at Parsons’ Healthy Materials Lab.

Our motion-caption studio—equipped with green screens, cameras and sensors, and a CPU station for OptiTrack—is where the future of gaming, animation, and XR work is being workshopped.

m akin G Su S taina BLy

Find free discarded making materials at the Making Center’s N2 Woodshop, by the University Center’s first-floor elevators, and on the Free Shelf in room UC506.

Kilns, glazes, wheels, and spaces for casting, throwing, and hand-forming work occupy one half of a Making Center floor; in the other, printmakers work with silkscreens and stone, metal, and wood plates.

“

The Machine Knitting Studio is open late on Sundays. The last three hours is when inspiration usually strikes and I’m figuring out an assignment.”

—LaChaun, BFA Integrated Design student

Olga Mironova MFA Design and Technology

Jacques Agbobly BFA Fashion Design

Elle McDougald BBA Strategic Design and Management

Grace Hernandez Master of Architecture

Aliya Al-Adwani MFA Fine Arts

Sadie Rose du Vigneaud BFA Illustration

Amal Flower Kay BFA Design History and Practice

Eres-Ever Portman

BFA Integrated Design

Madelyn Bunn

MFA Textiles

Chang Liu MFA Fashion Design and Society

Darice Lee BFA Product Design

Jinyi Li MFA Transdisciplinary Design

Annabelle Schneider MFA Interior Design

Mara Zimmerman MFA Industrial Design

Youran Mao BFA Communication Design

Andrés Galicia Hernández, Ifah Pantitanonta, Akanksha Shrivastava MS Strategic Design and Management

Tyler Dehaarte BFA Photography

Ryan Xiang Sun MFA Lighting Design

your Faculty mentors

Our award-winning instructors are essential partners in helping you explore a life in art and design. They bring their real-world experience and contacts into the classroom, allowing you to take your work to the forefront of creative practice and make it relevant to the world today. They share new insights, techniques, and opportunities, energized by the city and by the university’s mission to make our future more equitable and sustainable through innovative creative thought and action. Faculty learn alongside students, respecting all points of view and experiences. They are committed to seeing students thrive.

SO me r e C ent Fa C u Lty

aWard S

• MacArthur Fellowship

Lauren Redniss

• Guggenheim Fellowship

Andrea Geyer

• Fulbright Scholarship

J. Michelle Hill

• American Institute of Architecture Award

Andrew Bernheimer, Sharon Egretta Sutton, Evan Shieh, David Leven, David J. Lewis

• Pollock-Krasner Foundation

Artist Grant

Anthony Aziz, Sammy Cucher

• LIT Lighting Design Lifetime Achievement Award

Craig Bernecker

“I appreciate what each student brings to the classroom and want them to leave my courses empowered to apply what they have learned to other areas of their life and to lead transformation within the fashion system.”

—Yvonne Watson, Executive Dean of Parsons School of Design and Associate Professor of Fashion Design

10:1

student-to-faculty ratio

r e C ent B OO k S

B y Fa C u Lty

• The Psychopolitics of Fashion: Conflict and Courage Under the Current State of Fashion by Otto von Busch

• The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression & Reflection by Kelly Walters, Jennifer Rittner, and collaborators

• The Architecture of Disability: Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes Beyond Access by David Gissen

• Design and Solidarity: Conversations on Collective Futures by Marisa

Morán Jahn

• Sustainability and the Fashion Media: Spectatorship, Affect and Social Change by Morna Laing

• DUMBO: The Making of a Neighborhood and the Rebirth of Brooklyn by Paul Goldberger

48 Parsons alumni Under 30 list in 2011

“We instill in our students the courage to challenge the status quo.”

—Raz Godelnik, Assistant Professor of Strategic Design and Management

a launcHPad For success

Parsons prides itself on preparing graduates for a changing world. Instead of just training you in using specific tools, we cultivate curiosity and develop your problem-solving skills and a love of research, experimentation, and collaboration to take with you into your next chapter. For some, that involves work settings that call for creative innovators. For others, it leads to entrepreneurial start-ups that improve the world. Others use their Parsons education as a foundation for graduate studies here or at respected universities worldwide.

newschool.edu/parsons/after-parsons

W H ere Our Grad S W O rk

• Acne Studios

• Google

• Habitat for Humanity

• Soul Cycle

• U.S. Office of Personnel Management

• Nike

• Perkins&Will

• Marvel

• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

• Meta

• BMW

• Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

• Madewell

• Boston Mayor’s Office

• Amazon

• Prada

• Tillotson Design Associates

• Samsung

• Gucci Group

• Mexico City Human Rights Commission

• Condé Nast

• Pentagram alumni on Forbes ’ 30 list since it was begun

30

Start- u p S F O unded

B y aL um S

• Museum of Ice Cream

• Unfold

• Marc Thorpe Design

• UglyDolls

• L+R creative agency

• Uncomfortable Woman and Popularly podcasts

Parsons ranked among the top three U.S. art and design schools for graduates’ salary potential

W H ere Grad S p ur S ue a dvan C ed Study

• Parsons School of Design

• Harvard University

• Pratt Institute

• Stanford University

• Carnegie Mellon University

• Rhode Island School of Design

• School of Visual Arts

• Yale University

• University of Stockholm

• Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London)

• Aalto University

a Fe W p ar SO n S

C H an G emaker S

• Edward Hopper (Fine Art, 1906), fine artist and commercial illustrator

• Willi Smith (CGRD Fashion Design ’69), fashion designer

• Sea Briganti (BFA Product Design ’10), Shark Tank winner and founder of the compostable dishware brand Loliware

• Kevin Kwong (BFA Photography), author and screenwriter of Crazy Rich Asians

• Marc Jacobs (BFA Fashion Design ’84), fashion designer and activist

• Sheila Bridges (AAS Interior Design ’93), interior designer, TV personality, and entrepreneur

• Manuel Lima (MFA Design and Technology ’05), information designer

• Robert Wong (BFA Communication Design ’90), chief creative officer at Google Creative Lab

• Emily Adams Bode Aurjla (BA Philosophy ’13/BFA Fashion Design ’13), designer and founder of BODE sustainable fashion

• Maryellis Bunn (BBA Strategic Design and Management ’14), founder of the Museum of Ice Cream

• Donna Karan (BFA Fashion Design ’87), fashion designer and philanthropist

• Ai Weiwei (MFA Fine Arts ’83), fine artist and activist

Frymire, MS Data Visualization ’19;

at

“Instructors challenged me to find my own creative voice and keep pushing boundaries and keep my eyes open.”

—Jamie Drake, BFA Environmental Design ’78; founder of the interior design firm Drake/Anderson

“I was thrilled that there were classes that advanced my career opportunities but also broadened my perspective.”

—Ellie

senior data visualization engineer

Atom Finance

learning Beyond tHe classroom

Anyone who is creative knows that learning and inspiration are everywhere. Here learning happens while you’re exploring start-ups at the nearby farmer’s market, posting social media for breakout fashion firms, and experimenting with new regenerative materials over the summer. These opportunities include internships (nearly all students undertake at least one while studying), study abroad or with global organizations, and work with industry partners.

internsHiP s

Your academic and career advisor can help you find positions that complement your studies, allow you to develop industry-ready skills, and open up paths to employment. New York City is home to leading companies, cultural organizations, and nonprofits that hire creative people of all disciplines. Our team places students with groundbreakers like Nike, HBO, The Trevor Project, Tory Burch, and the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

newschool.edu/parsons/internships

“In my internship at EILEEN FISHER, I got a good overview of fashion production cycles and also how office culture works. It was a great complement to my creative work on campus.”

—Lucy Jones, BFA Fashion Design ’15; CEO of the lifestyle brand FFORA

s tudy aBroad

Parsons helps you expand your global awareness through study abroad programs and partnerships that give you international perspective and experience. You can undertake short-term to year-long stays overseas at Parsons Paris and other institutions. Courses and extracurricular projects featuring international partners and instructors expand your network and options.

newschool.edu/parsons/study-abroad

industry PartnersHiP s

Parsons’ premier position within NYC’s creative community means that you’re supported by our universe of makers, strategists, scholars, and entrepreneurs. Your faculty and advisors help you channel your growing set of skills toward real-world needs and creative challenges like those you will find in work settings. Industry partnerships build your abilities and expose you to people, organizations, and tools that broaden your career horizons.

newschool.edu/parsons/industry-engagement

r e C ent i ndu S try

p artner S

• Roblox

• United Nations

• LG AI Research

• NYCxDesign

• NASA

• Google

• Brompton

• IKEA

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Teen Vogue

• MM6 Maison Margiela

• Special Olympics

• Fresh

• Areaware

• Pfizer

• WantedDesign

• KEDS

• NYC Department of Transportation

• Blu Dot

• AARP

• Centre Pompidou

• Trust for Governors Island

• Amorim Cork

• Fondation Azzedine Alaïa

“I started to look at the world completely differently through my education.”

—Sea Briganti, BFA Product Design ’14; founder of the sustainable products firm Loliware

Housing

Our residence halls and other university facilities are clustered around Parsons’ buildings, so you have ready access to computer labs, the Making Center, and our 24-hour University Center, which houses the cafeteria and the art and design library. Our dorms offer a safe, supportive environment, and residence hall staff organize many social, educational, and cultural activities.

Housing is available for incoming first-year students who apply by the housing deadlines. For details, visit newschool.edu/housing. Dedicated housing is also provided for graduate students. Some students choose to live in off-campus apartments.

Financial aid

Parsons’ comprehensive financial aid program provides competitive merit-based scholarships and need-based aid for those who qualify. All applicants, including international students, are automatically considered for merit aid. We also participate in government grant, loan, and work study programs as well as programs for veterans of the U.S. armed services. Some graduate programs offer special fellowships and teaching assistantships; you can speak with an admission counselor or program director to learn what is available. For more information on financing your education, visit newschool.edu/student-financial-services and email questions to sfs@newschool.edu.

86% of admitted New School undergraduate students and 78% of New School graduate students are awarded merit-based institutional financial aid¹

“ The school’s energy is endlessly inspiring.”

—Alvaro Velosa, Master of Architecture ’14; designer at Bjarke Ingels Group

your ne X t steP s

There’s much more to Parsons than what’s described in these pages. Explore our website and social media to learn more. If you’re planning to apply, prepare a portfolio and consider the following tips from our admission team.

PreParing a PortFolio

Members of our admission committee want to know how you approach creativity and academics. For most applicants,1 the portfolio is the primary way of showing your skills, who you are, and what inspires you.

PortFolio tiP s

• Choose pieces that demonstrate your technical and conceptual abilities.

• Create new portfolio work to present a cohesive picture of who you are, the process you follow, and the media you use.

• Take the time to document (photograph, edit, render, etc.) and sequence portfolio pieces.

• Help reviewers understand your work by adding titles, dimensions, media, and short descriptions (including information on whether you collaborated on a work or used special tools like AI software).

• Set aside your portfolio for a few days and then review it again to ensure it’s ready.

1 Portfolios are not required for BBA program applications.

For information on preparing an undergrad portfolio, visit newschool.edu/parsons/portfolio-help.

If you’re a graduate program applicant, you can find instructions specific to your program at newschool.edu/ parsons/portfolio-requirements-graduate.

Want feedback on your portfolio before applying? Join us at an in-person or virtual National Portfolio Day event or schedule a campus visit.

To find undergraduate admission events, visit newschool. edu/admission/undergraduate-admission-events .

For graduate program admission events, visit newschool. edu/admission/graduate-admission-events .

aPPly

Ready to apply? We can help! Staff in Admission and International Student and Scholar Services provide ongoing enrollment support. Visit newschool.edu/parsons/apply.

meet our admission team

Contact our admission team online or introduce yourself at an admission event—our counselors are ready to assist you, and sometimes a conversa tion is the best first step. Admission appointments and other in-person and virtual events help you learn more and take your next steps.

212.229.5150 or 800.292.3040

admission@newschool.edu

“

There’s something about a Parsons education—you learn to collaborate and think differently, come at things with a different approach. You don’t get that in most learning institutions.”

—Lulu McPhee, parent of Andrew McPhee, BBA Strategic Design and Management ’18

Programs and study oP tions

From the moment you begin as an undergraduate, you’re part of the First-Year Experience, in which you discover new tools and techniques and encounter ideas, classes, and people who challenge you to go beyond convention and your comfort zone. Never used a power drill before? You will in your first semester. Haven’t defended your creative ideas in front of others? You’ll get help doing that, too. Not sure that group work is interesting? It is when your teammates speak four languages between them and are designing voting reforms.

If you’re considering a graduate degree, you may be more interested in our unique programs and changemaking faculty. You’ll also want to explore resources like our studios and tools, extensive libraries, and interdisciplinary research centers, where you can work hands-on with peers and faculty from a range of disciplines—much as you’ll do in the workplace.

Parsons is made up of five schools that offer the interdisciplinary programs shown at right.

dual-degree s tudy: Ba /BFa

If you want to combine in-depth study of art and design and the liberal arts, consider our five-year BA/BFA (sometimes called "BAFA") pathway, in which you earn a BA at The New School’s Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and a BFA at Parsons.

newschool.edu/babfa

minors

Minors enable you to explore your interests, acquire new skills, and stand out on job and graduate school applications.

newschool.edu/academics/minors

31%

of Parsons school pursue

45 minors and 15

“In the first year, you have to keep going when you make mistakes; there’s no time to go back and redo. You learn to trust yourself.”

—Emily Nachbauer, BA Psychology/BFA Photography ’21

degree Programs

Architectural Design BFA

Architecture MArch

Architecture and Lighting Design Dual Degree

MArch/MFA

Art, Media, and Technology BFA

Parsons Paris only

Communication Design BFA , MPS, AAS

Data Visualization MS

Design and Technology BFA , MFA

Design and Urban Ecologies MS

Design History and Practice BFA

Fashion Design BFA , AAS

Fashion Design and Society MFA

Fashion Design and the Arts

MFA Parsons Paris only

Fashion Management MPS on campus or online

Fashion Marketing and Communication AAS

31%

Fashion Studies MA

Fine Arts BFA , MFA

History of Design and Curatorial Studies MA

Illustration BFA

Industrial Design MFA

Integrated Design BFA

Interior Design BFA , MFA , AAS

Interior Design and Lighting Design Double Major MFA

Lighting Design MFA

Photography BFA , MFA

Product Design BFA

Strategic Design and Management BBA , MS1

Strategic Design for Global Leadership MS

Textiles MFA

Transdisciplinary Design MFA

1 Offered on campus and online. newschool.edu/parsons/academics

Parsons students take courses outside their home school to explore their interests, complete minors, and pursue our five-year dual-degree program (BA/BFA)

38 45 academic programs offered at Parsons in NYC and in Paris minors (30 undergraduate 15 graduate)

For important information including accreditation, student rights, campus safety statistics, and tuition and fees, visit newschool.edu/your-right-to-know. Published 2023 by The New School. The New School is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution. Photo credits: Moran Michelle Danker, Chris Eckert, James Ewing, Ben Ferrari, Michelle Gevint, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, Matthew Mathews, Jacob Arthur Pritchard, Martin Seck, Matthew Septimus, Michael Kirby Smith, Matthew Sussman, Phillip Van Nostrand.