Decision framework · product design from India

Six programs. One decision that survives the brochure.

Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Berkeley, Washington, Michigan, and UT Austin: cost, outcomes, curriculum, and a visa prior you can argue with. Updated 11 October 2026.

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Decision order, not a quality ladder

This order uses one weighting: product design, from India, on an F-1. Change the weighting in the decision framework and the order can change. It does not say which school is better in the abstract.

1Carnegie Mellon MHCIBest default if you can fund a one-year program and want capstone work that hiring managers already recognize. Prestige is real. Aid is not.
2Georgia Tech MS-HCIBest balance of design, research, and computing if you want a job-shaped summer in the middle and can tolerate Atlanta. Tuition is not ‘the cheap public option.’ It is a professional-program rate.
3UC Berkeley MIMSFirst choice if the target role is product management or a technical product seat. Third here because a product-design portfolio is not what the degree is built to produce.
4UW MHCI+DBest program in this set if the gap in your application is design craft and you want it fixed in a year. Weaker if you need a long internship before you can interview.
5UMich MSIRight school if you want research methods, a flexible UX path, or the new product-management pathway, and you will read the employment report carefully. The sticker is Berkeley-shaped without the Bay Area median.
6UT Austin MSISBest cost structure in the set, with real concentrations in HCI, UX, and human-centered AI. Last in this order because outcomes vary more by how you build the degree than by the name on it.

This order assumes

A designer, not a tourist.

You want product design, with UX research and PM as adjacent doors, not a generic “tech master’s.”
You will attend on an F-1, need STEM OPT, and cannot pretend every design studio sponsors.
Cost matters. It does not outrank a degree that leaves your portfolio where it is.

A PM-first reader should put Berkeley first. A cash-first reader should price UT Austin’s $9,893 semester before falling for a brand. The decision framework is the override switch.

Best for

Start from the job, not the logo.

Product Design

You need craft, critique, and a portfolio a hiring manager can read. Studio time beats a flexible catalog.

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UX Research

Methods first. A screen-only portfolio will not survive these pathways, and it should not.

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Product Management

Strategy, systems, and a seat next to engineering. Design craft is useful and not the job.

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Lowest Cost

Sticker price, then time-to-salary. Austin’s semester is the cheap one. A one-year program can still cost less in lost wages.

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Fastest Timeline

Twelve months, then you are employable again. Only two programs in this set are built that way.

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The six

Open any brief on its own.

Each page holds curriculum, cost, aid, outcomes, indices, visa prior, and the essay the school actually asks for.

Visa prior is a planning range, not a score. Job security, future proof, and the other indices run from 1 to 10 against these six only. Holds is where a program is strong for this decision. Costs you is the trade. Full freight means published tuition, with no assumed scholarship.

01 · 12 months · 3 semesters

Carnegie Mellon MHCI

The densest signal in a year. You pay full freight and the summer is the job.

Visa prior: 60–75%
Job security: 9 / 10
ROI: 7 / 10

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02 · 18 months · 4 semesters + summer internship

Georgia Tech MS-HCI

The practical default. An internship is required, and the brand does not have to do all the work.

Visa prior: 55–70%
Job security: 8 / 10
ROI: 8 / 10

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03 · 2 years

UC Berkeley MIMS

A product and systems degree that happens to sit in the Bay Area. Not a design studio with a view.

Visa prior: 65–80%
Job security: 9 / 10
ROI: 6 / 10

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04 · 1 year · 46 credits minimum

UW MHCI+D

The craft year. Portfolio in, portfolio out, Seattle on the doorstep.

Visa prior: 55–70%
Job security: 8 / 10
ROI: 7 / 10

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05 · 2 years

UMich MSI

A large, well-run information degree with real UX and a new PM pathway. The outcome PDF is not a UX outcome PDF.

Visa prior: 45–60%
Job security: 7 / 10
ROI: 6 / 10

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06 · 2 years · 36 credit hours

UT Austin MSIS

The flexible, lower-tuition HCI menu. You have to aim it or it will not aim you.

Visa prior: 45–60%
Job security: 6 / 10
ROI: 8 / 10

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Compare

Two or three. Not six.

A meaningful comparison fits on one screen. Pick a pair or a trio. The link you get is the share.

Compare 2

2 of 3 selected.

Indices

Scores you can disagree with.

Livability, job security, future proof, selectivity, and ROI run from 1 to 10, relative to these six only. Visa is a percentage range, not a score. Definitions live in the methodology.

Index scores for all six programs, 1 to 10
Program	Livability	Job security	Future proof	Selectivity	ROI	Visa prior
Carnegie Mellon MHCI	7 / 10	9 / 10	9 / 10	8 / 10	7 / 10	60–75%
Georgia Tech MS-HCI	6 / 10	8 / 10	8 / 10	6 / 10	8 / 10	55–70%
UC Berkeley MIMS	5 / 10	9 / 10	9 / 10	8 / 10	6 / 10	65–80%
UW MHCI+D	6 / 10	8 / 10	7 / 10	7 / 10	7 / 10	55–70%
UMich MSI	8 / 10	7 / 10	8 / 10	6 / 10	6 / 10	45–60%
UT Austin MSIS	7 / 10	6 / 10	7 / 10	5 / 10	8 / 10	45–60%

What these words mean

Decision framework: The rules for reading the order on the homepage. It is a weighting for one applicant, not a quality ladder of the six schools.
Indices: Five scores from 1 to 10: livability, job security, future proof, selectivity, and ROI. Each score compares these six programs only.
Visa prior: A planning range for OPT and for whether employers in that market sponsor. It is not an admission rate and not a promise.
Future proof: How directly the curriculum treats human-AI work, systems, and the mix of research, craft, and technical skill after 2026.
Job security: How usable the path is into product design, UX research, or product management: brand, network, internship, and where alumni land.
All-in sketch: Tuition plus a living estimate for the length of the degree. Not an invoice. Fees, flights, and aid sit outside it unless a line says so.
Holds: Where the program is strong for this decision.
Costs you: What you give up, or the risk you take, if you pick it.
Full freight: You pay the published tuition. Do not assume a scholarship or an assistantship will cut it.