The 2007 print edition of America's Best Architecture & Design Schools contains more than 100 perfect-bound color pages of charts, graphs, data, and analysis of design programs across the nation that no student, prospective student, school counselor, or hiring manager should be without.

For eight years DesignIntelligence has surveyed organisations across the United Stated to determine which schools produce graduates meeting and exceeding the demands of professional practice. Hiring managers from the nation's top corporations, organisations, municipalities, and design firms evaluate recent new hire graduates for practice readiness in a range of disciplines and skills.

After surveying practitioners, DesignIntelligence ranked the top 10 undergraduate and the top 10 graduate programs in the United States. They are:

Undergraduate

1. Art Center College of Design*
2. University of Cincinnati
3. Rhode Island School of Design
4. Carnegie Mellon University 
5. Pratt Institute
6. Auburn University
7. Arizona Sate University
8. Cleveland Institute of Art
9. College of Creative Studies*
10. Syracuse University
    

Graduate

1. Art Center College of Design*
2. Stanford University
3. Auburn University
4. University of Cincinnati
5. Illinois Institute of Technology
6. Carnegie Mellon University
7. Pratt Institute
8. Rhode Island School of Design
9. Georgia Institute of technology
10. Ohio State University
    

*: Icsid Education Member

DesignIntelligence employed a diverse set of criteria to poll the practitioners, including how new hires were trained in design, creativity and problem solving; research and analysis; studio skills, materials, processes and engineering; collaborative learning; ecodesign practices and principles; and general academic balance.

Art Center College of Design earned a dual top ranking for the second consecutive year.

A valuable resource
The only survey of its kind to evaluate programs based on the satisfaction of the profession, the historical survey of programs provides readers a glimpse of the standings for programs over recent years, and the new "Deans Survey" details the programs which design department heads feel are academic models.

Offering readers an understanding of just what makes a top design program, the eighth edition of America's Best Architecture & Design Schools is the definitive source for information on accredited US Architecture and Design Schools.

To purchase the complete survey or to subscribe to DesignIntelligence, visit www.di.net