WELCOME!

This website is dedicated to information specifically for prospective undergraduate students. (If you are a prospective graduate student, please visit our Graduate Programs website. Current students, faculty/staff, visitors, alumni and employers should see our Home site.)

We hope you find answers to most of your questions here; if you still can't locate what you're looking for or want to know more, please contact us and we will get the information for you. We also hope you will schedule a visit and explore first hand what design education at Iowa State is really like.

The Iowa State University College of Design is home to about 1,850 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. We're a small college at a big university, and you can enjoy the best that both have to offer.

All undergraduate students entering the College of Design enroll in the Core Design Program, a first-year foundation curriculum that prepares you for application to any of our degree programs: architecture, art and design, community and regional planning, design, graphic design, industrial design, integrated studio arts, interior design, and landscape architecture.

You will be able to connect right away with others who have similar interests when you sign up for one of our design learning communities. The Design Exchange (one-year residential learning community) and Design Collaborative (one-semester nonresidential learning community) are open to all first-year students enrolled in the Core Design Program. They help you make friends and meet faculty members, and they provide a support network that will help you make the best of your first year in college.

The studio method is our primary form of instruction. This provides a powerful way to develop and refine your creative abilities through inquiry, critical thinking, synthesis and application of knowledge. Most classes in the College of Design are studios ranging in size from 15 to 20 students. Because of these small class sizes and the structure of the working environment, the studio also helps foster close relationships with other students and faculty. Studios meet for long, concentrated periods of time, combining lecture and discussion with hands-on participation.