Design spaces that nurture the human spirit and respect the natural world.

The M.A. degree is a two-year, post-professional degree program intended for students with an undergraduate degree in interior design, architecture or product design who want to do advanced study and research in design. 

We believe strongly in the power of design to nurture the human spirit and support health and well-being. Designers have a social responsibility to the people for whom they create and, with each design decision, must strive to ensure the ethical, sustainable and informed role of design in society.

You will join a cohort of designers from a variety of fields ranging from interior design to graphic design, ergonomics to engineering. Working within and across areas of expertise, you will hone your ability to design environments that enhance the human condition.

The program culminates in a formal research thesis in which students are encouraged to systematically develop and test research-based design solutions, theories and methods.

Design + Environmental Analysis

This program is offered through the graduate field of Design and Environmental Analysis.

graduate student working with a child looking at a model

The M.A. in Design rests on these basic premises

  • Development of the knowledge base guiding the design of physical settings requires systematic, empirical research.
  • Individual and organizational behaviors are affected by the form of the environment.
  • The users of environments are diverse and have different needs. Individual characteristics such as gender, stage in life cycle, family structure, role or task affect our environmental needs. In addition, organizational characteristics such as organizational culture, goals, and structure help shape building form and use.
  • Design should be based on enhancing the human condition. Issues of central importance include how the qualities of the environment (i.e., interior design, building systems, lighting, furnishings, equipment and finishes) affect human behavior, comfort, and well-being.
  • How the goals and ideals of both the individual and the organization are translated into physical form; and what the designer's responsibility is to society. 
person wearing a VR headset with a screen behind them

Concentrations

Design + Health

Learn how the designed environment affects human physical health and mental health, as well as health-related behaviors. 

Focal contexts range from home and community, to schools, workplaces and healthcare settings. Outcomes of interest could include: health-related behaviors such as physical activity and diet; metrics of physical health or recovery from illness; measures of mental health or community cohesion; and cognitive functioning, performance or error rates. 

Graduates will be well-positioned for careers focused on environment-health studies and healthcare design research.

Design for Interaction

Focus on shaping the ways people and the designed environment interact, especially in interior spaces. 

This concentration cultivates designers who strive to improve life, enhance places, and support the experiences of human beings within their physical, natural and digital surroundings. 

Graduates will be well-positioned for careers in a variety of interior design or user experience design research professions within design firms, corporations and tech companies.

Emerging Technology for Design

Learn to develop and use emerging technologies as creative and expressive media — from augmented reality to architectural robotics.

Current study areas include: design computing and cognition, architectural robotics, design process and design visualization using Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), advanced visualization technologies for environment-behavior simulation, generative and parametric design and fabrication, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and simulation, and human-computer interaction. 

Graduates will be well-positioned for careers in industry, research institutes and academic settings employing virtual reality, augmented reality and other technologies for UX design.

Sustainable Design Studies

Understand the historical and theoretical aspects of sustainable design and learn how to analyze environmental issues and apply ecological knowledge through design.

We understand “sustainable” to go beyond maintaining the things we have to retrieving the things we have lost. Through this broader, more challenging strategy for design, we can lessen environmental damage related to the built environment — and even reverse it.

Thesis topics have included greening the supply side of furniture production, investigating the impediments to the adoption of a green building rating tool in the Russian Federation, contrasting the hospitality industry’s green certification with the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program, and designing a vertical moss garden.

Students develop an ecological literacy that blends critical thinking with environmental ethics, ecology with economics, and technology with policy. Graduates are prepared to be effective agents for change. They have found positions in such organizations as Leo Daly Architects, DEGW Strategic Design Consultants, the U.S. Green Building Council and Greenstar Australia.

graduate student looking at some wiring

Curriculum

M.A. candidates must also select a minor from fields throughout the university. Students should identify their minor committee members early in the program to ensure they have time to take the minor's required courses, typically 1-2 courses total. For more information, please contact the Graduate Field Assistant at deagrad [at] cornell.edu (deagrad[at]cornell[dot]edu.)

A. Required core DEA field courses

  • DEA 6100: Studies in Design Thinking (3 credits)
  • DEA 6200: Studies in Human-Environment Relations (3 credits)
  • DEA 7100: DEA Graduate Pro Seminar (1 credit/semester × 4 semesters = 4 credits)

B. Required foundational courses for concentration

  • DEA 5304: Design Accountability: Evaluation of the Physical Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6055: Hospitality, Health and Design Industry Immersion Seminar (1 credit)
  • DEA 6500: Problem-Seeking through Programming (3 credits)

And one of the following courses:

  • DEA 6550: Healthcare Innovations (3 credits)
  • DEA 6610: Environments and Health (3 credits)

C. Research methods

  • DEA 6560: Research Methods in Social Sciences (4 credits)

D. Statistics

  • One 3-4 credit (5000-level or higher) course such as BTRY 6010, BTRY 7180, ILRST 5100, ILRST 6100, PSYCH 6750 or HD 6750

E. DEA breadth

Choose two of the following courses:

  • DEA 5540: Workplace Strategy Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5560: Health Impact Assessment (3 credits)
  • DEA 5700: Designing Age Friendly Environments (3 credits)
  • DEA 6520: The Ambient Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6650: Poverty, Children and the Environment (3 credits)
  • PAM 5500: Operations and Planning of Senior Living and Related Facilities (2 credits)

F. Studio course

  • DEA 5305: Health and Healing Studio (4 credits)

G. Thesis courses

  • DEA 8990: Master’s Thesis (typically 8-12 credits; actual credits determined at the discretion of thesis committee)

H. Minor courses

  • 2-3 courses, depending on the minor (6-12 credits)

Summary

CategoryNumber of coursesCredits
A. Required DEA field courses310
B. Required foundational courses for concentration410
C. Research methods14
D. Statistics13-4
E. DEA breadth25-7
F. Studio course14
G. Thesis courses1-28-12
H. Minor courses2-36-12
Total16-1750-63

A. Required core DEA field courses

  • DEA 6100: Studies in Design Thinking (3 credits)
  • DEA 6200: Studies in Human-Environment Relations (3 credits)
  • DEA 7100: DEA Graduate Pro Seminar (1 credit / semester × 4 semesters = 4 credits)

B. Required foundational courses for concentration

  • DEA 6500: Problem-Seeking through Programming (3 credits)

C. Research methods

D. Statistics

  • One 3-4 credit (5000-level or higher) course such as BTRY 6010, BTRY 7180, ILRST 5100, ILRST 6100, PSYCH 6750 or HD 6750

E. DEA breadth

Choose two of the following courses:

  • DEA 5304: Design Accountability: Evaluation of the Physical Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6025: Design for Change: Imagining Decolonial Futures (3 credits)
  • DEA 6040: Future Body Craft (3 credits)
  • DEA 6210: Architectural Robotics (3 credits)
  • DEA 6400: AI, Embodiment, & Design (3 credits)
  • DEA 6510: Human Factors and Inclusive Design (3 credits)
  • DEA 6520: The Ambient Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6610: Environments and Health (3 credits)
  • DEA 6650: Poverty, Children and the Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6800: Ethical Design: Engine of Positive Change (3 credits)

F. Architectural history

  • One 3-4 credit (5000-level or higher) course in architectural or art history or anthropology

G. Studio course

Choose two of the following courses:

  • DEA 5210: Interaction Design Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5305: Health and Healing Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5540 Workplace Strategy Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 6000 Special Problems for Graduates (3-4 credits)
  • DEA 6406 Generative Design Studio (4 credits)

H. Thesis courses

  • DEA 8990: Master’s Thesis (typically 8-12 credits; actual credits determined at the discretion of thesis committee)

I. Minor courses

  • 2-3 courses, depending on the minor (6-12 credits)

Summary

CategoryNumber of coursesCredits
A. Required DEA field courses310
B. Required foundational courses for concentration13
C. Research methods13-4
D. Statistics13-4
E. DEA breadth26
F. Architectural history13-4
G. Studio course13-4
H. Thesis courses1-28-12
I. Minor courses2-36-12
Total14-1545-59

A. Required core DEA field courses

  • DEA 6100: Studies in Design Thinking (3 credits)
  • DEA 6200: Studies in Human-Environment Relations (3 credits)
  • DEA 7100: DEA Graduate Pro Seminar (1 credit / semester × 4 semesters = 4 credits)

B. Required foundational course for concentration

  • DEA 5520: Virtual Experience of Designed Environments (3 credits)

C. Research methods

D. Statistics

  • One 3-4 credit (5000-level or higher) course such as BTRY 6010, BTRY 7180, ILRST 5100, ILRST 6100, PSYCH 6750 or HD 6750

E. DEA breadth

Choose three of the following courses:

  • DEA 5304: Design Accountability: Evaluation of the Physical Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 5305: Health and Healing Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5540: Workplace Strategy Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5560: Health Impact Assessment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6040: Future Body Craft (3 credits)
  • DEA 6400: AI, Embodiment, & Design
  • DEA 6210: Architectural Robotics (3 credits)
  • DEA 6406: Generative Design Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 6500: Problem-Seeking through Programming (3 credits)
  • DEA 6510: Human Factors and Inclusive Design (3 credits)
  • DEA 6520: The Ambient Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6610: Environments and Health (3 credits)
  • DEA 6650: Poverty, Children and the Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6700: Applied Ergonomic Methods (3 credits)

F. Studio course

  • DEA 5210: Interaction Design Studio (4 credits)

G. Thesis courses

  • DEA 8990: Master’s Thesis (typically 8-12 credits; actual credits determined at the discretion of thesis committee)

H. Minor courses

  • 2-3 courses, depending on the minor (6-12 credits)

Summary

CategoryNumber of coursesCredits
A. Required DEA field courses310
B. Required foundational courses for concentration13
C. Research methods13-4
D. Statistics13-4
E. DEA breadth39-12
F. Studio course14
G. Thesis courses1-28-12
H. Minor courses2-36-12
Total14-1546-61

A. Required core DEA field courses

  • DEA 6100: Studies in Design Thinking (3 credits)
  • DEA 6200: Studies in Human-Environment Relations (3 credits)
  • DEA 7100: DEA Graduate Pro Seminar (1 credit / semester × 4 semesters = 4 credits)

B. Required foundational courses for concentration

  • DEA 6250: Human Dimensions of Sustainable Building (3 credits)
  • DEA 6500: Problem-Seeking through Programming (3 credits)
  • ILRLR 6300: Advocacy and Debate (3 credits)

C. Research methods

D. Statistics

  • One 3-4 credit (5000-level or higher) course such as BTRY 6010, BTRY 7180, ILRST 5100, ILRST 6100, PSYCH 6750 or HD 6750

E. Behavior and social responsibility courses

Choose one of the following courses:

  • DEA 6025: Design for Change: Imagining Decolonial Futures (3 credits)
  • DEA 6520: The Ambient Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6550: Healthcare Innovations (3 credits)
  • DEA 6610: Environments and Health (3 credits)
  • DEA 6650: Poverty, Children and the Environment (3 credits)
  • DEA 6800: Ethical Design: Engine of Positive Change (3 credits)

F. Architectural history

  • One 3-4 credit (5000-level or higher) course in architectural or art history or anthropology

G. Studio course

Choose one of the following courses:

  • DEA 5210: Interaction Design Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 5540: Workplace Strategy Studio (4 credits)
  • DEA 6000: Special Problems (project-based) (3-4 credits)
  • DEA 6406: Generative Design Studio (4 credits)

H. Thesis courses

  • DEA 8990: Master’s Thesis (typically 8-12 credits; actual credits determined at the discretion of thesis committee)

I. Minor courses

  • 2-3 courses, depending on the minor (6-12 credits)

Summary

CategoryNumber of coursesCredits
A. Required DEA field courses310
B. Required foundational courses for concentration39
C. Research methods13-4
D. Statistics13-4
E. Behavior and social responsibility courses13
F. Architectural history13-4
G. Studio course13-4
H. Thesis courses1-28-12
I. Minor courses2-36-12
Total15-1648-62

How to apply

Applications are due January 1. Applications are accepted for fall admission only.

In addition to the online application via the Graduate School website, the following required documents must be submitted online:

  • Academic Statement of Purpose (within 500 words)
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Official transcripts
  • Portfolio (see guidelines below)
  • GRE general test (The desired combined score should be greater than or equal to 310—for the new scoring system effective November 2011—or, a combined score of 1200 for the old scoring system.)
  • English Language Proficiency Requirement - as an international applicant, you must demonstrate proficiency in the English language by taking a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam. (See exceptions)
    • TOEFL - test for International students (DEA overall minimum: 105, plus Graduate School minimums must be met for each section: writing: 20; listening: 15; reading: 20; speaking: 22)
    • OR IELTS - The Graduate School requires an overall band score of a 7.0 or higher on the IELTS

For additional information on how to apply, please visit Graduate School Admissions.

The portfolio should communicate your design background and abilities in an understandable, organized manner following these guidelines:

  • A digital portfolio is required.
  • Submit your portfolio in the online application system under supplemental materials. Note: there is a file size limit of 20 MB.
  • Design work should be represented by prints and/or photographs accompanied by a statement briefly describing your design projects.
  • Indicate professional work (versus student work).
  • Indicate personal involvement in group projects (professional or student).
  • The demonstration of conceptual sketching ability, analytical sketches and travel sketches are very useful to us in assessing ability and assigning assistantships.

Funding is not provided for the M.A. degree. Please refer to the Graduate School Tuition and Cost web page for information.

Faculty you'll work with

portrait of a man in a blue button down shirt
Gary Evans
Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor
Focus areas Children's environments (e.g. schools, housing), Environment of childhood poverty, Development of environmental attitudes/behaviors in children
Keith Evan Green headshot
Keith Green
Jean and Douglas McLean Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies in Design + Environmental Analysis
 
Focus areas Intersection of design + robotics + psychology, Robot “living rooms” interacting/adapting with inhabitants, Robots that improve community, learning and health
woman wearing glasses sitting in a bright blue chair
Ying Hua
Professor
Focus areas Practice + approaches to creating optimal work + learning, Research methodology for post-occupancy evaluation (POE), Sustainable and resilience building practices in US + Asia
portrait of a man wearing glasses and a blue shirt
Saleh Kalantari
Associate Professor
Focus areas Wayfinding + spatial cognition using VR + simulation, Predictive design tools evaluating human responses to design, Human-environment interaction: built and virtual environment
portrait of a woman in a blue blazer
Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao
Associate Professor
Focus areas Wearable technology and on-skin interfaces, Designing skins across scales, Social perceptions towards on-body technologies
portrait of a man with round glasses wearing a grey t-shirt
Sang Leigh
Assistant Professor
Focus areas Accessible interactive technologies, Human-computer interaction, Design innovation – bridging art, technology and UX
portrait of a woman wearing red glasses
Renata Leitao
Assistant Professor
Focus areas Design for Indigenous empowerment, Transformational design for societal + environmental change, Intercultural design knowledge
portrait of a woman
Janet Loebach
The Evalyn Edwards Milman Assistant Professor in Child Development
Focus areas children's environments, participatory research & design, behavior mapping
PSYCH-2025-Anthony Ong-portrait
Anthony Ong
Professor
Focus areas Health + aging, emotion, relationships, race + social class, Developmental psychology, Vunerability and adaptation across the lifespan
man in a blue suit sitting in a bright blue chair
Karl Pillemer
Hazel E. Reed Professor, Professor of Gerontology in Medicine
Focus areas Aging and the life course, Sociology of the family, Intervention research
Jung-hye Shin
Jung-hye Shin
Professor and Chair
Focus areas Environmental design, Aging in place
portrait of a woman sitting in a red chair
Nancy Wells
Senior Associate Dean for Research + Graduate Education, Professor
Focus areas Environmental psychology, Effects of the built and natural environment on human health, Environmental design + policy impacts on consumption + reuse
portrait of a man in glasses
Jay (JungKyoon) Yoon
Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies in Design + Environmental Analysis
Focus areas Experience-driven design, Design for emotion, subjective well-being + behavior change, Product design + development
So-Yeon Yoon headshot
So-Yeon Yoon
Professor
Focus areas Human-computer interaction in virtual environments, Large-scale interface/interaction design, Interior design

Frequently asked questions

Contact the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) at deagrad [at] cornell.edu (deagrad[at]cornell[dot]edu).

No, you must make a choice at the time of application.

Yes. The Graduate School can help with this, but you must still adhere to our requirements and deadlines. 

No, we only have one admission cycle. Applications are due December 1 for the master’s degree program; students start in the fall semester.

All application materials are submitted online via the Graduate School’s application system.

A portfolio is required for the M.A. in Design, but not for the M.S. in Human Environment Relations.

Funding is not provided for the M.S. or M.A. degrees.

DEA does not provide assistantships to master’s students.

No. Academic letters of recommendation are valuable; however recommendations should be from people who can best assess the qualities, characteristics and capabilities of the applicant. 

Cornell’s institutional test code for ETS is 2098. DEA’s department code is 4499.

DEA recommends a combined verbal/quantitative GRE score of 310 but this is not an absolute cutoff. Candidates with strong applications, but scores below 310, may be considered. You may submit scores to DEA more than once if you re-take the test. Your scores may not be older than 5 years. Please plan to take the GRE in time to submit your scores by the application due date. 

Yes, scores need to be submitted.  The GRE can be retaken, but scores must be submitted by the application deadline. 

We strongly encourage you to take the GRE and TOEFL/IELTS tests early enough that your scores will be received by our application due date. We may allow some latitude, however. If your official scores have not arrived by the due date, but your unofficial scores have, we may hold your application if approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. Your scores are automatically reported to Cornell by the testing service (ETS) as soon as they are ready, and the Graduate Field Assistant will automatically add them to your application packet.

Please see the graduate school's website.

The answer to this question depends upon the degree and concentration to which you apply.

For the M.A. in Design, Sustainable Design Studies concentration, a prior degree in a design-related field is preferred, but not required. For the M.A. in Design, other concentrations, a prior undergraduate studio-based degree in design (e.g. interior design, architecture, product design, etc.) is required. 

For the M.S. in Human-Environment Relations, no specific prior degree is required for any of the concentrations. Students often have undergraduate degrees in psychology, architecture or interior design, as well as English, economics, anthropology and other fields.

DEA recommends a GPA of 3.0 (minimum), but this is not an absolute cutoff. 

The online application requires you to upload an unofficial copy of each official transcript from each college or university previously attended. Admitted students who accept the admission offer are required to submit an official transcript prior to matriculation. For more information visit the Graduate School transcripts page.

We recommend that you periodically check your application online to see if it is complete, especially if you are waiting for letters of recommendation to be uploaded. DEA’s Graduate Field Assistant may, as a courtesy, send you a reminder if you have missing information when the committee begins to review applications. If you have questions, please contact DEA’s Graduate Field Assistant at deagrad [at] cornell.edu.

We expect admitted master's students to begin in the term for which they are admitted. Deferments are not guaranteed.

A one-year deferment may be granted by exception only. The applicant must first accept our offer and submit a written request by the reply-by date (typically April 15), with official documentation (for example, medical or legal records).

Requests are reviewed by the Director of Graduate Studies in consultation with the Graduate School, and any approval depends on reconfirmed advisor availability for the new start term.

Applicants whose deferment request is not approved must reapply in a future cycle if they wish to be considered again, and applicants cannot defer admission after declining our offer.

If you would like to schedule a visit, you should first make an appointment with DEA’s Director of Graduate Studies. If you would like to meet with other DEA faculty, you could also schedule meetings with them while you are on campus. Many students also enjoy taking a walking tour of campus while they are here. Other useful links include the campus map and the Visit Ithaca website.

The career trajectories of our graduates are quite diverse. Some work as designers or design researchers, design educators, ergonomists or environmental psychologists. Some go on to pursue Ph.D.s in fields such as in psychology, architecture and gerontology.

No, DEA does not offer online classes for the master’s program.

Yes. Both the M.A. in Design and the M.S. in Human Environment Relations are STEM certified.

2 years

Yes, M.A. and M.S. students are expected to be on campus for the duration of the 2-year degree. For more information please see Residential Life.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide Teaching Assistantships (TA’s) to our M.A. and M.S. students. Occasionally, our students are able to find TA positions in other departments.

Note that for the M.A. in Design, there are 4 concentrations:

  1. Design for Interaction
  2. Emerging Technology for Design
  3. Design + Health
  4. Sustainable Design Studies

For the M.S. in Human-Environment Relations, there are 5 concentrations:

  1. Environmental Psychology and Human Factors
  2. Facility Planning and Management
  3. Sustainable Design Studies
  4. Emerging Technology for Design
  5. Design + Health

To be your “chair” (advisor) the faculty member must be a member of the DEA graduate field AND be among the faculty specified for your concentration. For this information, please see the Cornell Graduate School DEA page.

Yes, as long as the faculty member is a member of the graduate field you would like to minor in.

Yes, but this is on a case-by-case basis, and the DEA graduate faculty (and the faculty member who teaches the required course) will make decide what waivers are allowed or not allowed. Typically, you will need to provide a syllabus for your prior course(s).