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Same fields, no narrative padding. Share the URL. It already holds the selection. Visa prior is a planning range, not a score. Indices, future proof, job security, all-in sketch, holds, costs you, and full freight are defined in the word list under a finished comparison.

Ann Arbor, Michigan

UMich MSI

2 years

Pathway-based inside a shared information core. UX Research and Design is methods, prototyping, and stakeholder communication. User-Centered Application Development adds full-stack and agile delivery. Product Management, launched for fall 2026, combines strategy, user research, and human-centered design, including a course where students rotate through UX, PM, and engineering roles.

Capstone / internship. Practical engagement, internships, and pathway projects replace a single famous capstone brand. The career report lists internships among the experiences tied to job outcomes. There is no CMU-style seven-month sponsor monograph that carries the program’s reputation.

Cohort. Large. 358 MSI graduates in 2025. Your pathway cohort is the relevant unit, and it is smaller. Editorial band: 35–45 hours, with spikes in methods courses and team studios. Less crushing than CMU summer. Easier to under-work and graduate with a generic portfolio.

Official program site

Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia Tech MS-HCI

18 months · 4 semesters + summer internship

Track-based. Interactive Computing is the closest thing to a classic HCI + technical degree. Industrial Design is the studio and form track. Psychology is the research-methods track. LMC sits in media and communication. Cores and electives differ by home school. Confirm the current degree worksheet before you apply. Credit totals are not identical in every retelling.

Capstone / internship. The defining structured experience is the summer internship between year one and the final two semesters, not a single seven-month client studio. Project courses exist inside tracks. The internship is the piece that changes the job search.

Cohort. Not published as a single headcount on the pages reviewed. Four tracks mean the ‘class’ is several classrooms. Editorial band: 40–50 hours a week in coursework, then a full-time job in the internship summer. Peaks around studio crits and methods deliverables.

Official program site

City names are places, not scores. Updated 11 October 2026. Visa ranges are editorial planning priors, not school statistics. No program on this list publishes an OPT-to-sponsorship rate. The range assumes a STEM-eligible I-20, a portfolio aimed at companies that have sponsored before, and a 2026 hiring market in which design studios sponsor less often than large tech and some product orgs. H-1B remains a lottery. Update your plan when policy or the market moves.

Word list

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.