Thanks for the replies, all good information. Based on what I’m reading here and elsewhere it definitely sounds like just a masters is the way to go, but I’m still hunting for some more info.
My biggest remaining question is the curriculum for masters degrees. Almost every program that I have read a description for is described as an “advanced studio” that seems project based. Not that I couldn’t learn from doing more projects, but if I continue working till I have 15-20 years of experience for example, is a studio course really going to develop my design knowledge all that much? Or am I thinking about it wrong… Are these advanced studios more like self-guided research studios where you pick a topic of interest like “sustainability” as mentioned above? I certainly don’t mind spending time considering a specific area of interest, I have plenty of years to think about it, but I guess I was thinking there were more specific programs. I seem to recall reading a post on Core77 about a graduate program based on developing design businesses for humanitarian projects, which I would find interesting (too bad I didn’t save the link…ugh). I figured there would also be specialized programs for materials science, human factors, interaction design, sustainability, etc. but are those just the types of things you would personally choose to focus on in an “advanced studio?”
I’ve also been trying to dig up a list of accredited graduate design programs and I haven’t found many decent resources yet. I didn’t even see a list on the actual NASAD site. I’ll include the list I did find below, but it seems incomplete and when I clicked on many of the programs listed, it said “Accreditation: N/A,” leaving me wondering whether their data is incomplete. Also, Virginia Tech at least used to offer an ID masters, but they are not on the list. I could be wrong, but I thought Stanford had a grad program too, but they’re not on the list either. I’ll keep digging though…
Here’s what I found so far, and some of these aren’t even ID from what I can tell:
University of the Arts (Philadelphia)
Philadelphia University
University of Bridgeport (Connecticut) – Design management
Pratt Institute (Brooklyn)
Rochester Institue of Technology (NY)
University of Wisconsin Stout – MFA
Illinois Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
College for Creative Studies (Detroit) – transportation design
Arizona State University
Chapman University (Orange, CA) – production design
Notre Dame (IN) – art, art history & design
Savannah college of art & Design - service design?
Northwestern university (IL) – master of science, engineering design and innovation
Academy of art university
University of Kansas
Auburn University
Harvard University – engineering & applied sciences
Rhode Island school of design
University of central Florida – design for usability
Art center college of design (Pasadena, CA)
San Francisco state university – design and industrial arts
North Carolina state university
Ohio state university