| Ranking | School | State |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona State University | Arizona |
| 2 | University of Texas at Austin | Texas |
| 3 | Brigham Young University | Utah |
| 4 | University of Colorado, Boulder | Colorado |
| 5 | University of North Texas | Texas |
Our 2025 rankings of the Top 5 undergraduate UX/UI/HCI school programs in the Southwest. We define the Southwest as Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. For an explanation of ranking criteria, click here.
Arizona State University (ASU) is home to the nation’s largest engineering program. The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering serves nearly 32,000 students across eight schools, 25 undergraduate programs, and nearly 50 graduate programs. Among Ira’s schools is The Polytechnic School, which houses a Human Systems Engineering (User Experience) BS program with on-campus and online options. All students also have the opportunity to complete an internship and study abroad experience in one of more than 65 countries. Graduates have been hired at places such as Boeing, Intel, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Oracle, Adobe, Qualcomm, Meta, Deloitte, Walmart, JPMorgan Chase, Banner Health, and PayPal.
The School of Information (iSchool) at University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) launched an interdisciplinary undergraduate Informatics program in 2021. Leading to a BA or BS, the program has a User Experience (UX) Design concentration that provides access to the state-of-the-art Information eXperience Lab (IX Lab) and the Immersive Human Development Lab. Students also have opportunities to complete an internship. The program culminates with a semester-long capstone. Graduates have gone on to become UX designers, researchers, and analysts at places such as Amazon, Google, AT&T, Dell, Apple, IBM, Accenture, JPMorgan Chase, American Airlines, Deloitte, Expedia, and Athenahealth.
The College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University (BYU) houses the Design Department, which provides a Graphic Design BFA and a limited enrollment Product and User Experience (UX) Design BFA. The Graphic Design program includes courses such as Collaborative UX Design; Interface and Usability; Design Lab; and Advanced Interactive Design. The Product and User UX Design BFA includes courses such as UX Research Methods; Collaborative UX Design; Rapid Product Innovation; Product and UX Design; and Advanced Software Construction. BYU Design graduates go on to land positions at places such as Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Amazon, Intel, HP, Adobe, and Intel.
The College of Engineering and Applied Science at University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) houses the ATLAS Institute. Within the institute is a Creative Technology and Design (CTD) program with BS, minor, and certificate options. In collaboration with the Department of Information Science, ATLAS also provides a User Experience certificate program. Across programs, students will take courses such as User Experience Design 1 and 2; UX and UI Workflows; Design Foundations; and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). ATLAS graduates have been hired at places such as NASA, Google, Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, NVIDIA, IBM, Chevron, L3Harris Technologies, RTX Corporation, and Tesla.
The College of Visual Arts and Design (CVAD) at University of North Texas (UNT) houses the Department of Design—home to the Communication Design BFA with a concentration in User Experience (UX) Design. Course examples include Foundations of User-Centered Design; Advanced UX Campaigns; Design Prototyping and User Testing; Cause-Based User-Experience Design; and Topics in User-Experience Design. The program culminates with a final project case study and portfolio of the student’s best work. UNT CVAD graduates have been hired at places such as BBDO, Nike, Haggar, Fossil, Walmart, and Honda.
