• Strategic Design and Management MS

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    [email protected] 
    212.229.5150 (U.S. only)

    Program Contacts
    Michele Kahane, Program Director
    Sareeta Amrute, Associate Director
    Sharon Counts, Associate Director

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    • Strategic Design and Management
    • Parsons
    • The New School

  • Strategic Design and Management Students Newly Entering Fall 2025: The program will be offered entirely in person; no online option will be offered.

  • Bringing together design thinking, management, and applied social sciences, the graduate program in Strategic Design and Management at Parsons responds to the need for businesses and organizations to address complex 21st-century economic, environmental, and social challenges. Methods from studio practice such as ideation, ethnographic research, prototyping, and service design are used to devise approaches to business and social innovation in global contexts. You gain critical design-based skills while developing sophisticated perspectives on organizational management and strategy, financial and environmental sustainability, entrepreneurship, and ethical leadership.

    Program Highlights

    • Studio-Based Approach

      Collaborate and experiment in a hands-on studio focusing on management and organizational strategy in which you think and design creatively, visually, and boldly.

    • Real-World Relevance

      Gain experience in designing and managing organizations, working with leading-edge partners in business, nonprofit, and public sectors and with industry-leading faculty.

    • Global Focus

      Apply creativity and design methods as tools for problem solving and leadership in future-oriented, socially engaged organizations in a variety of global contexts.

    • Entrepreneurial Opportunities

      Access ELab for design-led entrepreneurial research and enterprise development support, including an alumni mentorship program and fellowship, incubator, and accelerator options.

    • Applicant Profile

      This STEM-designated program is ideal for early- to mid-career professionals seeking to enhance their existing capabilities with design strategy skills and to cultivate next-generation organizational practices.

    • Degree Master of Science (MS)
    • Format Full-time; on campus, online, or a mix of campus and online courses
    • Credits 36
    • Duration 2 years
    • Other program status STEM-designated

  • Curriculum

    Our curriculum exposes you to innovative methods for designing, managing, and improving organizations of all kinds to better meet the needs of diverse stakeholders worldwide. Seminars provide you with social and scientific grounding in design, management, and economics, while studio courses enable you to apply evidence-based knowledge to real-world projects, helping you prepare for jobs in the private, nonprofit, or public sector. Finally, you can take elective courses in any college of the university to gain specialized knowledge in an area of personal or professional interest. 

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  • Career Paths

    Graduates are well positioned for careers in business, sustainability management, innovation, social enterprise, strategic and service design, and entrepreneurship in a wide range of industries, organizations, and professional fields. Students who are already working can apply their learning to become "intrapreneurs" in their current organizations, or advance into novel and emerging roles such as chief change officer, chief innovation officer, or lead design thinker.

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    Explore Our Community

    Discover what our students, alumni, and faculty are doing in NYC and worldwide.

    sds.parsons.edu/designmanagement

  • Student Work

      See Our Work

    • Parsons faculty represent a broad range of disciplines and areas of expertise. They include leading practitioners and scholars in specific fields and those with interdisciplinary backgrounds—all with a commitment to helping students develop creative approaches to complex real-world challenges.

    • Beyond the Classroom

      • TNS_Website-011116_Healthy_Materials_Lab_033

        Research Labs

        Research is integral to the Parsons learning experience, and students and faculty work together to challenge existing paradigms and advance emerging scholarship and practice. Explore the thematic research laboratories housed at Parsons and throughout The New School.

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        Industry Engagement

        Connect to the organizations, businesses, and entrepreneurs driving global creativity and commerce. In classes, internships, and extracurricular projects, you gain marketable problem-solving skills in sectors ranging from government and nonprofits to tech and creative industries.

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        Internships

        New York City’s thriving creative industry and cultural institutions are part of your Parsons education. Our Career Services Office is enmeshed in the art and design industries and can help you advance your career with industry-oriented internships. 

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      • TNS_Website-20170712_Cuba_IFP_041

        Funded Opportunities

        Funds are earmarked for graduate travel, research, and work to support your study. Opportunities include paid teaching assistantships, research fellowships and assistantships (including ones offered throughout The New School), ample student employment, and other grants available to U.S. domestic and international students alike.

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      • TNS_Website-20200302_Kellen_Archives_005

        Making & Academic Resources

        Enjoy access to extensive resources including New School libraries, computer labs, archives, and studios, along with Parsons’ state-of-the-art Making Center, facilities offering a broad array of tools to support your creative and academic growth.

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    Undergraduates

    To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

    Undergraduate Adult Learners

    To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

    Graduates

    To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.