The emergence of the new social, political and environmental paradigms in the recent decades empowered design activism and socially responsible design approaches. Similarly, there is an increase in the related academic studies and the practical applications of these approaches especially in the developed countries. The objective of this article is to explore the influences of design activism and socially responsible design approaches on the design education and to observe the common grounds of the programs that consider these approaches in their curriculum. The focus of the study is limited to the review of the second cycle design programs in pioneering institutions of the Western countries where these approaches originated. A comprehensive literature review has been conducted in the design education field about design activism and socially responsible design. Relevant academic programs have been reviewed. The review indicates that design education has some deficiency in terms of social, political, and economic aspects of design. These aspects require specific concentration which cannot be found in the conventional design education. The study reveals that researched programs regard changing social, economic, political and environmental systems and the power of design to play a role in this transformation. Thus these programs are influenced by design activism and socially responsible design approaches implicitly or explicitly.