Founded in 1957, Ming Chuan University was initially named Ming Chuan Junior Women's Commercial College. It was upgraded to Ming Chuan College in 1990. In 1997, the institution was further promoted to Ming CHuan University and established academic Schools, including the School of Design. Ming Chuan University earned accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) in 2010, making it the first U.S.-Accredited University in Asia.

The five departments and one program in the School of Design include Commercial Design, Product Design, Architecture, Digital Media Design, and Urban Planning and Disaster Management, and Animation and Comic Creative Industries Design Program.

We have our own building featuring spaces in which to appreciate humanities and arts. It is an innovative School that comprises study of the climate change impact on northern Taiwan, topics of declining birthrate and aging population, animation, creation of 3D projections, graphic design and product exhibition design, digital architecture design, design research for urban planning and disaster management, and academia-industry promotion. There are five departments and one Program in the School of Design: in the School of Design: Commercial Design Department (including Master’s Program in Commercial Design), Architecture Department (including Master’s Program in Architecture), Product Design Department (including Master’s Program in Product Design and Work-experience Master), Digital Media Design Department (including Master’s Program in Digital Media, Overseas Youth Vocational Training School and Special Class for Mainland China Students), Urban Planning and Disaster Management Department (including Master’s Program in Urban Planning and Disaster Management and Work-experience Master), and Animation and Comic Creative Industries Design Program. In all, there are more than 2,000 students currently enrolled in the School of Design and nearly eighty percent of faculty members in the School have doctoral degrees.

Integrated professional courses and interdisciplinary learning: Integrating courses for solving environment problems for interdisciplinary learning also provides students with a market-demand orientation. This includes such areas as animation, 3D projection creation, graphic design and product exhibition design, design drawing, digital architecture design and urban adaptive planning and disaster mitigation design.

Combined academia-industry and internship programs for certificate training and improved post-graduation prospects: Expanding internship courses is a result of cooperative education and nurtures students’ competitiveness in the market. The average amount involved in Academia-Industry cooperation programs is about 10 million NTD per year.

Professional societal contributions by faculty members and students through professionalism, internationalization and glocalization: Through course learning at the First U.S.-Accredited University in Asia, students have the opportunity for professional exchange and further study in the U.S., Japan and Mainland China. Design talents are nurtured to make societal contributions and serve the community.

Support from tight relationships with alumni and competitive graduation product exhibition: Students benefit from increased opportunities for employment and winning international awards through the online communication between each department and their respective alumni associations, as well as special exhibitions of their design works during mid-term or finals’ weeks and their graduation exhibitions.

The School of Design was established to carry out Ming Chuan’s educational philosophy of “attending to all students with parental care, support, and guidance”. Taking excellence, professionalism, and internationalization as its educational goals, the School makes special effort on practicing theory-based, application-oriented education; and actively establishes an international learning environment.