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.
Berkeley, California
UC Berkeley MIMS
2 years
A product and systems degree that happens to sit in the Bay Area. Not a design studio with a view.
First 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.
Holds
Where it is strong for this decision.
Product management, strategy, and systems thinking
Bay Area network and internship culture
Strongest published salary figure in this set: $120,000 median for the class of 2023
Limited but real fellowships, $5,000–$30,000, considered automatically
Costs you
What you give up if you pick it.
Official nonresident cost of attendance is $85,159.50 for 2026–27 alone.
Design craft is available and not the center of the degree.
Two years of Bay Area rent is the hidden tuition.
The career report people quote is the class of 2023, updated on the site in August 2024. Ask for anything newer.
A large, well-run information degree with real UX and a new PM pathway. The outcome PDF is not a UX outcome PDF.
Right 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.
Holds
Where it is strong for this decision.
UX research methods and a dedicated UX pathway
A product-management pathway with coursework built around cross-functional teams
Published outcomes: 88% employed, $91k average salary, 3–4 month average search, class of 2025
Fellowships and some assistantships exist, unlike CMU or UW
Costs you
What you give up if you pick it.
Nonresident full-time tuition on the 2026–27 School of Information table is $32,139 per term.
45% of reporting 2025 MSI graduates were working in Michigan. The network is national and the gravity is Midwestern.
Two years at this tuition is one of the most expensive paths in the set.
‘MSI’ on a resume needs a pathway sentence. The letters alone do not say product design.
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.