Prerequisites
Applicants to the Master's program in Human Centered Design & Engineering must have a Bachelor's degree by the time the program begins in autumn quarter to be considered. Because we place great value on a variety of different perspectives, there is no specific type of Bachelor's degree (or previous course-work) that we require applicants to have. Our admitted student cohort is typically comprised of applicants divided equally between engineering/technical science, social science, and design backgrounds. The department does not collect GRE scores for the Master's program. International applicants whose native language is not English and were educated in a language other than English must meet certain language requirements. More for International Applicants »
Application Materials
The HCDE application materials include three letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, an academic transcript, and a resume. Applicants submit materials to the University of Washington's Graduate School online application. See all application materials »
Application fee waiver: The Department waives the application fee for students who participated in certain programs: See more info about our criteria and our process here.
Deadlines
HCDE admits Master's students to begin autumn quarter only. Students are encouraged to begin collecting application materials at least two months before the deadline to ensure submission is complete on or before the due date. Please note, however, that we do not begin the review of applications until after the deadline, so there is no special incentive to apply early.
The 2026 application will be first made available on September 1, 2025.
Deadline to submit your application: January 14, 2026 at 11:59pm PST.
All materials (including unofficial transcripts and recommendations) must be received by the deadline in order for an application to be reviewed. Please submit your application before 3pm Pacific Time on the day of the deadline (and ideally p if you require assistance from the HCDE advising staff or UW Graduate School.