SCHOOLS SHOWCASE
Presented with media partner Design Milk
Launched in 2022, the Schools Showcase at WANTED serves as a great opportunity for international design schools to present the work of their best students for them to be part of the main design trade event during NYCxDESIGN, receive feedback from professionals and start building their network.
It is also a space for international design schools to recruit students and to connect with an international schools network to create partnerships and potential exchange programs.
The 2026 Best of Schools and Students Awards will be presented on the main stage Sunday, May 17, 5:30pm.
See the 2026 participating schools below.
Anahuac Puebla University and Higher School of Art and Design of Valencia
The School of Architecture and Design at Universidad Anáhuac Puebla is a leading creative hub in Mexico, committed to shaping future designers and architects through a global, human-centered, and innovation-driven approach. The academic model integrates international collaboration, regional production, sustainability, and digital fabrication, fostering projects that connect culture, technology, and social impact.
Appalachian State University
App State’s Industrial Design program is a comprehensive four-year accredited degree program offering concentrations in both Product Design and Furniture Design. Internationally recognized and widely showcased, the program has earned numerous awards and competition honors. Graduates have pursued diverse and successful careers across industries, including medical equipment, sporting goods, soft goods, and commercial furniture design.
Centro de Estudios Superiores de Diseño de Monterrey / CEDIM
CEDIM is born as a center for design studies in Monterrey by Alejandro C. GarcÃa Villarreal ~ Integration of careers in CEDIM interior design, graphic design, Visual marketing.The CEDIM is born as a center for design studies in Monterrey. Council President CEDIM MarÃa Anita Novak Ibarra 1978 ~ Integration of careers in CEDIM interior design, graphic design, Visual marketing.
Fashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) specializes in art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. FIT offers a wide range of programs leading to degrees in various fields; the institution is known for its strong emphasis on career education, providing students with practical experience and theoretical knowledge to prepare them for successful careers in the design industry.
IED Istituto Europeo di Design
IED Istituto Europeo di Design is the largest network of European Arts and Design Schools located in three countries: Italy, Spain and Brazil. Founded in 1966 in Milano, the Institution provides a learning experience that combines critical thinking with a practice-based approach to design, addressing real-world challenges and needs. It blends Italy’s rich cultural heritage with a global outlook and a strong connection to each local context. IED’s transdisciplinary and inclusive approach is guided by sustainability, diversity and purposeful technology, shaping design as a driver of responsible and positive impact on people, society and the environment.
School of Design, Anahuac Mexico University
The School of Design at Anáhuac University Mexico is dedicated to preparing students for the global design environment. The program emphasizes a broad view of the field of design and is supported by academic research projects aimed at companies and educational institutions. The School of Design is part of the Anahuac Universities Network, which shares a mission and educational model with ten institutions in Mexico, one in Chile, one in Spain, two in Italy, and two in the United States.
Kean University
Kean University’s design programs offer a comprehensive education in various design disciplines, preparing students for successful careers in the industry. Michael Graves College is dedicated to taking design and architecture to a wider public audience. It is comprised of two schools, the Robert Busch School of Design and the School of Public Architecture.
Lawrence Technological University
Focused on Design. Immersed in Technology. Grounded in Practice. The College of Architecture and Design (CoAD) at Lawrence Technological University prepares architects and designers to address 21st-century challenges through critical inquiry, creative problem-solving, and applied practice. CoAD’s multidisciplinary approach integrates design excellence with advanced technologies, international perspectives, and strong industry connections.
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
New Jersey Institute of Technology, Hillier College of Architecture and Design
The Hillier College of Architecture and Design at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) offers a comprehensive education in architecture, digital design, interior design, and industrial design. The college is known for its strong general education, broad exposure to design disciplines, and commitment to community engagement. NJIT’s programs are designed to produce creative thinkers, competent professionals, and engaged citizens who meet their ethical responsibilities to the environment and society.
Parsons School of Design
Parsons School of Design at The New School enables students to develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in and contribute to our rapidly changing society. Students collaborate with peers throughout The New School, industry partners, and communities around the world and in New York City, a global center of art, design, and business. Parsons’ unique approach to interdisciplinary, real-world learning is interwoven throughout all of our offerings, from undergraduate and graduate degrees to executive education for professionals to continuing and pre-college courses taught on campus and online.
Pratt Institute
Pratt is an institute, an experience, and an idea. What started as a radical experiment to expand access to creative careers is now a community of 5,137 grad and undergrad students working across 48 programs with 1,200 dedicated faculty. 135 years in the making, this is Pratt.Â
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
The mission of Rhode Island School of Design, through its college and museum, is to educate its students and the public in the creation and appreciation of works of art and design, to discover and transmit knowledge and to make lasting contributions to a global society through critical thinking, scholarship and innovation.Â
Rochester Institute of Technology
The College of Art and Design is RIT’s creative hub where art, design, and technology intersect. From centuries-old and contemporary methods of producing fine art to the latest in digital media, the College of Art and Design possesses a comprehensive selection of majors in disciplines related to visual communication, imaging, and science. If your interests are artistic, creative, and professional, a world of possibilities awaits you here.
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)
The Savannah College of Art and Design was founded in 1978 by Richard G. Rowan, Paula Wallace, May L. Poetter and Paul E. Poetter to provide college degree programs not previously available in southeast Georgia and to create a specialized professional art college to attract students from throughout the United States and abroad. The curriculum was established with dual goals of excellent arts education and effective career preparation for students. Today, with multiple locations and online distance education offerings, SCAD continues to assiduously adhere to these goals. SCAD design students directly influence the aesthetic language, performance, sustainability, and financial value of products and experiences. They master the process of identifying design insights, engage in scenario planning, and create viable solutions that become tangible parts of a system, service, or brand. Across an array of design disciplines — graphic design and visual experience, industrial design, design for sustainability, and user experience (UX) design — the SCAD School of Design prepares students to generate imaginative solutions to transform the world.
SVA MFA Products of Design
The MFA in Products of Design at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) is a two-year immersive program designed to prepare exceptional practitioners for leadership in the evolving design landscape. The program emphasizes the mastery of three crucial fields: making, structures, and narratives. Students engage in rigorous discourse, assignments, and self-directed projects that challenge traditional design disciplines, such as industrial and digital products. The curriculum is tailored to the diverse participants in design professions, including anthropologists, behavioral psychologists, and materials experts. The program also acknowledges the increasing interest in design’s role in addressing social and environmental challenges.
Tec de Monterrey
In the field of design, all the products and services we use, which make our lives easier, have a history, a creative process that led them to be what they are. Behind this process is a designer, capable of understanding the way of being and feeling of human beings, their needs, context and limitations and finding new opportunities. The designer is someone who seeks to make things better and work better, he or she is a systemic thinker, an artist of form, an explorer of materials: he or she is an innovator by nature.
The Cooper Union
Cooper Union, founded in 1859 by Peter Cooper, is a private college located on Cooper Square in Manhattan, New York City. Cooper Union offers undergraduate and master’s degree programs in architecture, fine arts, and engineering, with a shared core curriculum in the humanities and social sciences.
Universidad de Monterrey UDEM
The University of Monterrey features the Roberto Garza Sada Center, which houses the School of Art and Design. This space serves as a hub for creativity, where new generations of designers, artists, and architects are educated and developed. Located in Monterrey, the center has established itself as a leading reference in the education, creation, and dissemination of art, architecture, and design in Latin America. The School of Art and Design is composed of programs such as Industrial Design, Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Animation, and Interior Design.
Universidad de Monterrey UDEM
Universidad Iberoamericana A.C.
Universidad Iberoamericana A.C. is recognized as one of the best private universities in Mexico. IberoDiseño was the first Design School in Mexico City, with over 7000 alumni working for the creative industries. Product Design, Transmedia Storytelling Design, Sustainable Design for Fashion and Textiles and Sensory Design are its current programs.
University of Iowa
Iowa’s 3D design faculty are recognized internationally as creative and educational innovators. Working and teaching in some of the best-equipped labs in the nation, they harness advanced technology to produce work of timeless aesthetic beauty and seamless functionality.
University of Oregon
A unique academic ecosystem, the College of Design comprises not only creative practitioners—artists, architects, and designers—but also social scientists, humanities scholars, engineers, economists, biologists, planners, and policy makers. Using diverse methods, we are engaging critical questions and tackling complex problems. We are dynamic explorers with diverse tools. Through imagination, experimentation, analysis, and creation, we grapple with thorny problems, discover new interpretations, and open uncharted territory. We ask bold questions and make unexpected connections, aiming to engage, enrich, and inspire through the things we make and the stories we tell. Catalyzing curiosity, awe, and empathy opens new potentials.