Colleges in USA

Yes portfolio is important requirement that you must provide Stanford University if you need admission in Design course. You should have already mastered some basic skills that you can bring for the program such as quick idea sketching, product rendering, prototype building, etc. 

Stanford University does not mention it anywhere that students must have prior experience or employment in Design to get into Design program. But university expect or want students to try to make impact the world through design and design thinking. 

For 2026 entry into MS Design at Stanford, application will opened in mid-September 2025 on university official portal. The application for this program closed on Dec 02,  2025. No applications are accepted after this deadline. 

No Stanford Design programs are not yet offered at PhD level. The highest level in which Design courses are available is Master level. But the curriculum of MS Design program is such that you can smoothly shift to another Ph.D. programme in Science or Engineering field. 

Students who are plan to get into Stanford must have other qualities that can impact the world through design and design thinking. Student must combine design and technical skills and business understanding with desire to build upon the human-centered design process. 

Yes Stanford University is offering Design courses since 2005. Earlier Design courses were offered under Engineering at this university. In 20 years, Stanford Design courses have done exceeding well which led to attract many international students. Students can study best design courses at this university such as BS & MS in Design separately.