Best Maker Schools 2022 from Make:

The Maker Movement is all about “learning by doing,” supported by online communities and DIY publications like Make:, by 2,000 shared makerspaces around the world, and by in-person Maker Faire events held in 72 countries (and counting). But DIY doesn’t mean learning alone — the Maker Movement has also been embraced by educators who seek to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and the arts.

Hands-on “maker education” — training in the tools and techniques of electronics and engineering, 3D design and digital fabrication, and traditional craft skills — has become a star attraction at institutions of higher learning. Maker education is cutting-edge, constantly evolving, and exciting — a pathway to brand-new careers literally creating the future.

For the second year, Make: has sought out the Best Maker Schools in Higher Education. Nominated by our unique global community of makers, educators, and Maker Faire leaders, we’ve added to our original list of great maker schools — powerhouse universities with vast resources, lesser-known schools with amazing programs, and standout community colleges, vocational and trade schools. Large or small, these are the schools that have invested in innovative maker-focused programs and on-campus makerspaces, the schools that makers themselves want to attend to deepen their skills and broaden their scope.

We hope this list will help guide students, parents, educators, and employers to recognize excellence in maker education around the world.

Methodology
This non-ranked list was generated by recommendation through a survey tool in collaboration with an international community of educators, administrators, students, and maker leaders. To be considered for the list, recommended schools had to demonstrate excellence or competency in the following areas:

• Integrated learning-through-doing orientation
• Mentoring / guidance / coaching for making
• Physical makerspaces / fab labs / workshops / studios
• Accessible spaces and tools that support independent, collaborative projects
• A diverse, active community of makers

School	Country	State/Province	City
University of Queensland	Australia	QLD	Brisbane
Monash University	Australia	VIC	Melbourne
University of New South Wales	Australia	NSW	Sydney
University of Wollongong	Australia	NSW	Wollongong
TU Graz	Austria		Graz
Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul - Campus Porto Alegre	Brazil		Porto Alegre
Universidade de São Paulo (USP)	Brazil		São Paulo
University of Toronto	Canada	Ontario	Toronto
Emily Carr University of Art+Design	Canada	BC	Vancouver
Concordia University	Canada	Quebec	Montreal
Simon Fraser University	Canada	BC	Vancouver
Ryerson University	Canada	Ontario	Toronto
Wilson School of Design	Canada	BC	Richmond
Universidad Viña del Mar	Chile		Viña del Mar
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (School of Design)	China		Hong Kong
Tongji University	China		Shanghai
CUHK-Shenzhen	China		Shenzhen
Tsinghua University	China		Beijing
University of Zagreb	Croatia		Zagreb
Czech Technical University (CTU Prague)	Czech Republic		Prague
Aarhus University	Denmark		Aarhus
UCL Jelling	Denmark		Jelling
The American University Cairo	Egypt		Cairo
Talinn University of Technology (TalTech)	Estonia		Talinn
Aalto University	Finland		Espoo
ENSCI Les Ateliers	France		Paris
Paris College of Art	France		Paris
TU Munich	Germany		Munich
Hochschule Rhein Waal	Germany		Kamp-Lintfort
University of Europe for Applied Sciences	Germany		Berlin
University of Ghana	Ghana		Accra
Universidad Del Valle de Guatemala	Guatemala		Guatemala City
CMR University	India		Bangalore
Technion (Israel Institute of Technology)	Israel		Haifa
Politécnico di Milano (Polimi)	Italy		Milan
Università degli Studi di Torino	Italy		Torino
La Sapienza di Roma	Italy		Rome
Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences	Japan		Ogaki
Tokyo Metropolitan University	Japan		Tokyo
Korea University	Korea		Seoul
Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences	Malawi		Blantyre
Tech de Monterrey Mexico	Mexico		Monterrey
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México	Mexico		Mexico City (D.F.)
La Universidad Politécnicade Baja California	Mexico		Tijuana
Design Academy Eindhoven	Netherlands		Eindhoven
University of Auckland	New Zealand		Auckland
Massey University	New Zealand		Palmerston North
University of Lagos	Nigeria		Lagos
University of Oslo (UIO)	Norway		Oslo
ITU Punjab	Pakistan		Lahore
Universidad de Lima	Peru		Lima
Politécnico de Lisboa	Portugal		Lisbon
National University of Science and Technology MISIS	Russia		Moscow
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology	Saudi Arabia		Thuwal
University of Ljubljana	Slovenia		Ljubljana
University of Pretoria	South Africa		Hatfield
Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)	Spain		Barcelona
Madrid CEU University	Spain		Madrid
Umeå University	Sweden		Umeå
Uppsala University	Sweden		Uppsala
University of Geneva	Switzerland		Geneva
National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology (NKFUST)	Taiwan		Kaohsiung City
Lunghwa University of Science and Technology LOHOC	Taiwan		Taoyuan City
TU Delft	Netherlands		Delft
Amsterdam University of the Arts	Netherlands		Amsterdam
UAE University	UAE		Abu Dhabi
University of Sheffield	UK		Sheffield
Cambridge University	UK		Cambridge
University College London	UK		London
University of Brighton	UK		Brighton
University of Manchester	UK		Manchester
London College of Communication	UK		London
University of Surrey	UK		Guildford
Glasgow School of Art	UK	Scotland	Glasgow
Royal College of Art	UK		London
Stanford University	USA	CA	Palo Alto
University of California, Berkeley	USA	CA	Berkeley
University of Southern California	USA	CA	Los Angeles
Case Western Reserve University	USA	OH	Cleveland
University of Maryland	USA	MD	College Park
University of Wyoming	USA	WY	Laramie
Kent State University	USA	OH	Kent
Purdue University	USA	IN	Lafayette
University of Washington	USA	WA	Seattle
University of Michigan	USA	MI	Ann Arbor
Wheaton College	USA	MA	Norton
Sierra College	USA	CA	Rocklin
Cabrillo College	USA	CA	Aptos
Georgia Institute of Technology	USA	GA	Atlanta
Rice University	USA	TX	Houston
Florida Polytechnic University	USA	FL	Lakeland
Arizona State University	USA	AZ	Tempe
Duke University	USA	NC	Durham
University of Arkansas	USA	AR	Fayetteville
Carnegie-Mellon University	USA	PA	Pittsburgh
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	USA	MA	Boston
Johns Hopkins University	USA	MD	Baltimore
Rhode Island School of Design	USA	RI	Providence
Bucknell Universty	USA	PA	Lewisburg
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	USA	IL	Urbana
University of Massachusetts Amherst	USA	MA	Amherst
University of Colorado, Boulder	USA	CO	Boulder
Georgetown University	USA	DC	Washington
Olin College	USA	MA	Needham
Yale University	USA	CT	New Haven
University of Pennsylvania	USA	PA	Philadelphia
Penn State	USA	PA	University Park
University of Arizona	USA	AZ	Tucson
Columbia University	USA	NY	New York
New York University	USA	NY	New York
Boise State University	USA	ID	Boise
New Jersey Institute of Technology	USA	NJ	Newark
IYRS School of Technology and Trades	USA	RI	Newport
University of Texas, Austin	USA	TX	Austin
California College of the Arts	USA	CA	Oakland
Penland School of Craft	USA	NC	Penland
DePaul University	USA	IL	Chicago
Northwestern University	USA	IL	Evanston
Houston Community College	USA	TX	Houston
University of Nevada Reno	USA	NV	Reno
Virginia Commonwealth University	USA	VA	Richmond
University of New Mexico	USA	NM	Albuquerque
Princeton University	USA	NJ	Princeton
Hazard Community and Technical College	USA	KY	Hazard
University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)	USA	TX	Arlington
University of Cincinnati	USA	OH	Cincinnati
Lafayette College	USA	PA	Easton
Central New Mexico Community College	USA	NM	(multiple)
Boston University	USA	MA	Boston
University of California, Davis	USA	CA	Davis
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)	USA	CA	San Diego
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)	USA	CA	Los Angeles
University of Oklahoma	USA	OK	Norman
Tulane University	USA	LA	New Orleans
Wesleyan College	USA	CT	Middletown
University of Hawaii at Manoa	USA	HI	Honolulu
Cooper Union	USA	NY	New York
University of New England	USA	ME	Biddeford
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	USA	NC	Chapel Hill
Harvard University	USA	MA	Boston
California Institute of Technology	USA	CA	Pasadena
CalPoly SLO	USA	CA	San Luis Obispo
Hampshire College	USA	MA	Amherst
Mount Holyoke College	USA	MA	South Hadley
Brown University	USA	RI	Providence
University of Montana	USA	MT	Missoula
Montana State University	USA	MT	Bozeman
Milwaukee College of Science and Engineering	USA	WI	Milwaukee
University of Minnesota	USA	MN	Minneapolis - St. Paul
University of Akron, Wayne College	USA	OH	Orville
University of Oregon	USA	OR	Eugene
SciArc	USA	CA	Los Angeles
Fort Hays State University	USA	KS	Hays
Alfred University	USA	NY	Alfred
Auburn University	USA	AL	Auburn
University of Utah	USA	UT	Salt Lake City
Cornell University	USA	NY	Ithaca
Navajo Technical University	USA	NM	Crownpoint
SUNY Polytechnic Institute	USA	NY	Utica
University of Vermont	USA	VT	Burlington
Pratt Institute	USA	NY	New York
Morehouse College	USA	GA	Atlanta
Lehigh University	USA	PA	Bethlehem
Drexel University	USA	PA	Philadelphia
Texas A&M	USA	TX	College Station
University of West Florida	USA	FL	Pensacola
Union College	USA	NY	Schenectady
Spelman College	USA	GA	Atlanta
Rochester Institute of Technology	USA	NY	Rochester
Smith College	USA	MA	Northampton
University of Florida	USA	FL	Gainesville
University of Wisconsin, Madison	USA	WI	Madison
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)	USA	GA	Savannah
University of Alaska Fairbanks	USA	AK	Fairbanks
GateWay Community College	USA	AZ	Phoenix
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	USA	NB	Lincoln
Stevens Institute of Technology	USA	NJ	Hoboken
Oregon State University	USA	OR	Corvallis
Vanderbilt University	USA	TN	Nashville
Middle Tennessee State University	USA	TN	Murfreesboro
Tennessee Tech	USA	TN	Cookeville
George Mason University	USA	VA	Fairfax
Iowa State University	USA	IA	Ames
West Virgina University	USA	WV	Morgantown
University of Georgia	USA	GA	Athens
James Madison University	USA	VA	Harrisonburg
University of Chicago	USA	IL	Chicago
University of Puerto Rico	USA	PR	San Juan
Emory University	USA	GA	Atlanta
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology	USA	SD	Rapid City
North Dakota State University	USA	ND	Fargo
Ohio University	USA	OH	Athens
Abilene Christian University	USA	TX	Abilene
Harvey Mudd College	USA	CA	Claremont
Otterbein University	USA	OH	Westerville
Sacramento City College	USA	CA	Sacramento
School of the Art Institute of Chicago	USA	IL	Chicago
Mississippi State University	USA	MS	Mississippi State
Washington State University	USA	WA	Pullman
Parsons School of Design	USA	NY	New York
Coppin State University	USA	MD	Baltimore
Folsom Lake College	USA	CA	Folsom
Boton College	USA	MA	Chestnut Hill
Wake Forest University	USA	NC	Winston-Salem
Vermont Woodworking School	USA	VT	Fairfax
Buttte College	USA	CA	Oroville
Berry College	USA	GA	Mount Berry
Otterbein University	USA	OH	Westerville
Joliet Junior College	USA	IL	Joliet
Florida Tech	USA	FL	Melbourne
Parsons School of Design	USA	CA	Los Angeles
Malmo University	Sweden		Malmo
Centro de Diseño, Ciné y Televisión	Mexico		CDMX
Technológico de Costa Rica	Costa Rica		San José
Universidad de Rosario	Colombia		Bogota
Monash Tech	Australia	VIC	Clayton
ETHzürich	Switzerland		Zürich
Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt	Austria		Wiener Neustadt
Ringling College of Art and Design	USA	FL	Sarasota

Not on the list? 

You can nominate post-secondary, higher education schools for next year’s Best Maker Schools list HERE.

More About Featured Schools

To learn more about some of the schools featured on this list, watch the Make: blog at makezine.com and the Make:cast podcast for interviews and profiles of excellent maker schools and programs.

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Best Maker Schools: Kent State

Innovation as a Material Practice: Anne-Louise Davidson, Concordia University

Wyoming’s Maker Access Pass

More About This List

How was Make: able to gather the most comprehensive list of maker schools? We’re non-biased — we are not an education institution looking to compete, nor an education-market publisher. We are a community of makers of all types and levels, from self-taught inventors and rank beginners to PhD engineers and entrepreneurs.

We asked our unique network of makers and educators in the US and worldwide that’s been built over 15 years by Maker Faires, Make: Magazine, and events like our Maker Education Forum. Many of the schools on this list have built a maker community over the years by hosting local and regional Maker Faires.

We strove for a balance of programs: engineering but also arts and design, vocational/technical, mechanical/fabrication, and standout interdisciplinary programs. We also strove for geographic balance, soliciting recommendations for all regions of the US and the world, and considered accessibility (location and cost).

About Make:

Make: has been a vanguard of the worldwide maker movement through the publication of Make: magazine and Make: books for over 16 years, as well as through a global network of Maker Faires. Make: has two goals: to increase the number of people who are exposed to making and become makers, and to share the wide variety of projects that makers create and show their contribution to our society. Make: believes it is essential that more youth are provided access to the tools, materials, concepts, and support to grow as makers through both formal and informal learning opportunities in their local communities. Making empowers people to solve real-world problems and develop their own voices and skills. Making creates a more highly skilled workforce ready for the 21st century.