Master of Design is a master's degree in Arts, Design & Architecture programme offered by NSCAD University in Halifax, Canada. The programme runs for 2 years. It carries 60.0 credits. Tuition for international students is CAD 834 per credit (CAD 355 per credit for local students).
This Master of Design is a graduate program of sixty credits completed over four semesters full-time, or up to five years part-time, based at NSCAD's Fountain Campus. It integrates theory, research, and hands-on practice across three areas: Applied Design and Design Entrepreneurship, which uses project-based classes to identify design opportunities and bring solutions to market; Speculative Design and Applied Technologies, delivered through workshop courses exploring emerging technologies and future issues; and Social Design and its ethical dimensions, addressed through seminars on the social and ethical concerns raised by design practice. The program includes practicums, field study, intensive workshops, and collaborations with industry partners, with an emphasis on practice-led design research and scholarly writing. It suits students with varied academic and cultural backgrounds who want to apply design thinking to real organizational or social problems. Graduates pursue careers as creative directors, product or industrial designers, user experience specialists, and entrepreneurs across the wide range of industries where design plays a role.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: The Master of Design programme asks for a Bachelor of Design degree, a bachelor's degree in a related discipline, or equivalent qualifications from a four-year university or college program, with an overall B average in relevant academic coursework; applicants from other fields may need qualifying undergraduate courses, passed at a minimum grade of B, before admission. The portfolio consists of not more than 20 digital images representative of current work. Applicants whose prior schooling was not in English must meet NSCAD's graduate-level proficiency scale: TOEFL iBT 94 (no section below 22), IELTS Academic 7.0 (no band below 6.0), PTE Academic 70 (no score below 65), CAEL 69 (no part below 60), Duolingo English Test 130 (no sub-score below 110), or Oxford ELLT 8 (no band below 7).
Application Details
Start Date:September
Application Deadline:Applications open 1 October 2026; early application deadline is 1 November 2026 and the final application deadline is 15 January 2027, for Fall 2027 (September) entry.
