Car Designing Schools

Here’s the thing: the Transportation Design program at the College for Creative Studies has been around since 1962. And in that time, CCS has become number one in transportation design. We educate sought-after designers whose influence in the transportation industry is unparalleled.

Make it in the real world

Our alumni build design careers at every major car manufacturer and at nearly all the Tier 1 auto suppliers such as Visteon; at racing and defense companies like Pratt & Miller; with consultant firms as far away as Vietnam and in the shipyards of Abu Dhabi.

Before becoming the director of design for Ford Motor Company Europe one of our alums led the design of the new Ford Mustang and is one of a hundred CCS alums who design for the company. GM Design employs more than 175 of our alumni, one of whom led interior design for the Chevy Silverado—2014 Truck of the Year at the North American International Auto Show. And, the heads of design at North American Toyota and Nissan Europe are both graduates of CCS.

CCS graduates account for 60% of Chrysler Design: the entire design teams for the 2014 Chrysler 200, Jeep Renegade and Jeep Cherokee were also Team CCS. In fact, those teams were led by alum Ralph Gilles, President and CEO of the SRT Brand and Senior Vice President of Design. He sits on our Board of Trustees (CCS's governing board) with Edward Welburn, GM’s Vice President for Global Design. Ed and Ralph keep a close watch on the quality of CCS's Transportation Design program.

Nearly all the designers at Volvo Heavy Truck are—you got it—CCS alumni. And CCS grads are key designers at power sports company studios, including Bombardier in Quebec, Eric Buell Racing in the United States, and KTM in Austria.

That’s the carrot, here’s the stick: CCS is the best because our students are educated in the real world of transportation design. We’re located in the heart of the US automotive industry, and our faculty of award-winning, industry-trained professionals have no rivals. They teach and mentor our students who, before they even graduate, secure competitive internships at top global firms and work on sponsored design projects with industry insiders.