bethben Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 My son has jumped on the thought of becoming an industrial designer. It fits his interests very well. The problem is, there aren't a lot of industrial design schools around the country (art school basically) and we're looking at most likely $40K per year for an out of state school (we don't have any good ones in our state). The other issue is that this job pays pretty average to low starting salaries. The job market is also not that robust, but is growing slowly. We know two things about college for our children. #1 We want them to have little to no debt #2 We can't afford to help even close to that amount. We've never been able to save up for college and haven't been even able to think about it until this year. He's got two more years before he graduates high school. He will be going to the community college full time and I am going to have him do some art classes in 3D imaging and some CAD classes (close as we can get to what software the designers use) just to give him a feel of what he would be doing on a smaller scale. So, does he give up on a dream and get a degree that our state college offers? What does one do with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 What state are you in? Does your state participate in any regional tuition compacts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted April 13, 2017 Author Share Posted April 13, 2017 Colorado - There's not a lot of schools that offer this degree west of the Mississippi from what I can see. I'll look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Colorado - There's not a lot of schools that offer this degree west of the Mississippi from what I can see. I'll look. Industrial design also falls under mechanical engineering. Would he be interested in something like this at U of Colorado Boulder? https://www.designcenter.colorado.edu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 You have Metropolitan State as well https://www.msudenver.edu/ind/ https://www.msudenver.edu/ind/futurestudents/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 You have Metropolitan State as well https://www.msudenver.edu/ind/ https://www.msudenver.edu/ind/futurestudents/ This looks like a great deal for CO residents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Are there certificates in industrial design? I know a girl who is an interior designer and she got her bachelor's in marketing from a school that gave her a scholarship and then a certificate in interior design that she paid for with the earnings from a marketing job. That was a way cheaper option than going to art school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 BU has an online 3-course certificate in product design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Pretty sure Virginia Tech has it, because dh was tossing the idea of a masters around when we moved here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 I have only the vaguest notion of what industrial design might entail. From a financial aid perspective, I'd be inclined to look toward universities rather than standalone art schools. Also, there seem to be some universities with interesting majors/study areas along these lines. I'd look at CMU, Northeastern, RIT to see if any of them have a course of study that may be appealing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nan in Mass Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Northeastern is a coop school, which might increase his chances of getting a job after graduation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Before you look outside your state system, you need to know your EFC and whether you can afford it. Have you run FAFSA4caster? https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?locale=en_EN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagingpeace Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Have you thought about Canadian universities? The US dollar is currently strong against the Canadian dollar, so even though you would have to pay international tuition, it is cheaper than many out of state tuition options (though more expensive than in-state tuition). For example, Emily Carr University in Vancouver, and OCAD University in Toronto are two highly regarded design schools with industrial design programs (I've been looking too, since I have a child who may be headed in that direction). Emily Carr: http://www.ecuad.ca/academics/undergraduate-degrees/bachelor-of-design/industrial-design-major tuition: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1CTABrOLl2uN2JxRVluM1NJMkE/view $18 799 CAD is about $14 100 USD. Of course that doesn't include housing, and both Vancouver and Toronto are rather expensive cities, so some creativity may be required to find affordable housing options. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Ohio State has an industrial design major, and they have the Buckeye Scholarship (plus several smaller scholarships that stack) that cover a chunk of OOS tuition for students with good stats. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Michigan State University has a packaging program that is highly respected and whose grads are highly sought-after and well-paid. Would this interest him at all? Still OOS and may not be what he's looking for, but just thought I'd mention it. I really don't know what Industrial Design is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 I think what I'm going to do is get him into a community college engineering class and possibly a CAD class. Industrial design has an element of engineering to it and also has a computer element to it. If he hates both of these classes, then we will have learned something. He also wants to get an associates degree but I'm not sure he can do it while figuring out "what" he wants to do also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arch at Home Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 I have a friend who just got and AA in Interior Design and is now going to art school in Industrial Design. The University of Kansas has an Industrial Design degree and some money for OOS students. My sense is that some Industrial Design programs have more of an engineering focus and some have more of a design focus. My guess that KU's is more design as this girl wants to design furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*LC Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 ugh I have a tablet now, and I am having trouble posting. Have you seen this site, http://www.idsa.org/education/id-schools, where you can search industrial design colleges by state, accreditition, degree type, etc. One not listed on the accredited list is Iowa State; I don't know if that is important for industrial design. I know an out-of-state homeschooler who recently received a good bit of merit aid from Iowa State, but not as a industrial design major. Don't rule out out-of-state schools. Check the list of schools with good merit aid. My state is known to be a good financial deal, but my kids go OOS for less than they could if they stayed in state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 I think what I'm going to do is get him into a community college engineering class and possibly a CAD class. Industrial design has an element of engineering to it and also has a computer element to it. If he hates both of these classes, then we will have learned something. He also wants to get an associates degree but I'm not sure he can do it while figuring out "what" he wants to do also. Hmmm... I'm not sure that taking generic engineering classes is a great way to figure out whether Industrial Design is a good major? Or is the plan to hopefully guide him into something that is available to you locally? You should talk tot he community college advising. There are a lot of transfer plans out there, and some of them are geared towards exploration of the liberal arts while others are more pre-STEM fields. If Metropolitan State is your in-state affordable Industrial Design program, you could see what community college preparatory classes they recommend. Taking applicable classes would save you more in tuition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Well if your ds speaks Spanish well enough, he can go to a fabulous architecture/design school in Costa Rica! My daughter did that for all four years. (It's actually a 5-year program, but they get it done in four years by holding classes year-round.) It's averages about $5000/year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 (edited) http://collegemajors101.com/college-majors/industrial-design/2465/accredited-schools one in CO http://www.msudenver.edu/ind/academicresources/coursedescriptions/ Does your CC have similar courses? I would contact MSU Denver to see what CC in your state have transferable courses. ======================================= also http://www.idsa.org/education/id-schools Can you get a job with a two year degree? Edited April 14, 2017 by MarkT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 The industrial design programs I've heard of/seen are usually found in engineering schools. They are not art programs. But perhaps I'm misunderstanding the title? DD and I toured RIT last week and they had that as a major. I remember because I thought it would be a fantastic major for ds. As far as affordable engineering schools, if your son is a strong student with high gpa and test scores, Clarkson gives some decent merit aid. WPI might also be somewhere to look. They give some good aid as well and you can do coop there. You can also live off campus after freshman year and rents are pretty darn cheap (at least for the northeast). We toured there today and their coops typically pay about $30,000 for a half year position. RIT also is coop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel-in-CA Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 The industrial design programs I've heard of/seen are usually found in engineering schools. They are not art programs. But perhaps I'm misunderstanding the title? DD and I toured RIT last week and they had that as a major. I remember because I thought it would be a fantastic major for ds. As far as affordable engineering schools, if your son is a strong student with high gpa and test scores, Clarkson gives some decent merit aid. WPI might also be somewhere to look. They give some good aid as well and you can do coop there. You can also live off campus after freshman year and rents are pretty darn cheap (at least for the northeast). We toured there today and their coops typically pay about $30,000 for a half year position. RIT also is coop. Nope, there are art schools with this major too. Pasadena is one of them ($50K/year, I think). I've know engineers who worked with graduates of that program who helped to design artificial heart casings--engineers found them indispensible. These majors may also design toy figurines, cool shapes for furniture, instrument panels....all sorts of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 The industrial design programs I've heard of/seen are usually found in engineering schools. They are not art programs. But perhaps I'm misunderstanding the title? DD and I toured RIT last week and they had that as a major. I remember because I thought it would be a fantastic major for ds. As far as affordable engineering schools, if your son is a strong student with high gpa and test scores, Clarkson gives some decent merit aid. WPI might also be somewhere to look. They give some good aid as well and you can do coop there. You can also live off campus after freshman year and rents are pretty darn cheap (at least for the northeast). We toured there today and their coops typically pay about $30,000 for a half year position. RIT also is coop. I believe Industrial Design is more on the artistic side not to be confused with Industrial Engineering. Of course, there are probably over-laps. Think "form" along with "function". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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