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Key takeaway: An interior design degree trains you to plan and document interior spaces that people can safely occupy – space planning, building codes and accessibility, materials and finishes, lighting, and the construction drawings that turn a concept into something a contractor can build. That is what separates interior design from interior decorating, which selects furnishings and finishes for spaces that already exist and requires no credential. The degree is offered online at the associate, bachelor’s, and master’s levels. Accreditation by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) matters more here than in most fields, because it shapes the fastest route to the NCIDQ examination and to registration or certification in the states that regulate the interior designer title. Compare accredited programs below.
Coursework pairs a studio sequence – residential, commercial, hospitality, or healthcare design problems that build toward a portfolio – with the technical layer that makes the work legal and buildable: drafting and modeling in AutoCAD, Revit, and SketchUp, building codes and life safety, materials and specification, lighting design, sustainable design, and professional practice. Accredited online programs deliver the same curriculum and degree titles as campus programs, with studio critique moved to video and digital submission; browse the best accredited online colleges to compare schools that offer them.
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Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
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Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Interior design graduates work in architecture and interior design firms, for furniture and finish manufacturers and dealers, in corporate facilities and workplace groups, in hospitality and healthcare organizations, in residential design studios, and for kitchen and bath, lighting, and specialty consultancies. The occupations below are commonly associated with interior design coursework. Median annual wages come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
| Occupation | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| Architect | $99,280 |
| Commercial and Industrial Designer | $83,910 |
| Interior Designer | $67,190 |
| Graphic Designer | $62,960 |
| Occupation | Projected job growth (2024-2034) |
|---|---|
| Architect | 3.9% |
| Interior Designer | 3.2% |
| Commercial and Industrial Designer | 3.2% |
| Graphic Designer | 2.1% |
Interior designers had a median annual wage of $67,190 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment of interior designers to grow 3.2 percent from 2024 to 2034, with about 7,800 openings per year on average over the decade, most of them from workers who retire or change occupations rather than from new positions (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). A bachelor’s degree is the typical entry credential for interior designer positions, and the states that regulate the title generally require the NCIDQ examination in addition to the degree.
Three adjacent occupations appear in the chart because interior design graduates move into them or work alongside them daily. Architects, who design the buildings interior designers work inside and who hold the license that interior designers coordinate with on most commercial projects, had a median annual wage of $99,280 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), with projected growth of 3.9 percent and about 7,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34); reaching that occupation requires an accredited architecture degree and separate licensure, not an interior design degree. Commercial and industrial designers, who design furniture, fixtures, lighting products, and other manufactured goods that interior designers specify, had a median annual wage of $83,910, with projected growth of 3.2 percent and about 2,500 openings per year (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34); interior design graduates with strong furniture and product coursework do move into this work. Graphic designers, the most common lateral move, particularly in firms producing environmental graphics, wayfinding, and branded retail and hospitality interiors, had a median annual wage of $62,960, with projected growth of 2.1 percent and about 20,000 openings per year (BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Individual outcomes vary by employer, geography, specialty, and experience, and residential designers who run their own studios see far wider variation than these medians suggest.
Interior design covers the planning of interior space – layout, circulation, egress, accessibility, code compliance, lighting, materials, and the construction documents that a contractor builds from. It requires formal education, and in the states that regulate it, an examination and registration. Interior decorating is the selection and arrangement of furnishings, finishes, and accessories for an existing space; it requires no degree, examination, or license anywhere in the United States. A degree program titled “interior design” should teach you the first set of skills. If a program’s curriculum is mostly color, styling, and furnishings with no codes, drafting, or construction documents, it is a decorating program regardless of its name.
The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) is the programmatic accreditor for interior design education in the United States. It accredits professional-level programs – primarily bachelor’s degrees, plus some master’s programs designed as a first professional degree. It matters because CIDA-accredited education is the most direct route to NCIDQ eligibility and because many state registration and certification rules are written around it. A small number of fully online bachelor’s programs hold CIDA accreditation; verify any program’s status directly on the CIDA accredited programs directory rather than relying on the school’s marketing language.
The NCIDQ examination, administered by the Council for Interior Design Qualification (CIDQ), is the credentialing exam for professional interior designers in the United States and Canada. Eligibility combines interior design education with supervised, documented work experience; the more formal interior design education you hold, the fewer experience hours are required before you can sit for the full exam. You need it if you intend to practice in a state that regulates the interior designer title or to stamp or submit drawings where that is permitted, and most commercial firms treat it as the expected credential for advancement. You do not need it for residential decorating work or for many residential design roles. Details of eligibility are set by CIDQ and change over time; check the CIDQ eligibility requirements for the current rules.
Some do, in different ways, and the picture changes as legislation moves. A number of states have title acts that restrict who may call themselves a registered, certified, or licensed interior designer, generally requiring a combination of education, experience, and the NCIDQ examination. A smaller number regulate practice itself, particularly the right to submit drawings for permit on certain commercial projects. Many states do not regulate interior design at all. Because this varies by state and changes, check the specific rules for the state where you intend to work before you choose a program, and treat CIDA accreditation and NCIDQ eligibility as the safest combination if you might move.
Expect AutoCAD for two-dimensional drafting and construction documents, Revit for building information modeling, and SketchUp for quick three-dimensional massing and client presentation. Most programs add the Adobe applications for presentation boards and portfolio layout, and many add a rendering tool. Employers generally expect Revit competence for commercial work and AutoCAD fluency for nearly everything; SketchUp is common in residential and early concept work. Student licensing for the major platforms is commonly available through the school or the vendor, but confirm what your program provides before you buy hardware.
The bachelor’s is the standard professional credential and the level CIDA primarily accredits. An associate degree prepares you for design assistant, kitchen and bath, showroom, and drafting roles, and it counts toward NCIDQ eligibility with additional experience hours. A master’s is either a first professional degree for career changers with a bachelor’s in another field, or a post-professional degree for practicing designers moving into specialization, research, or teaching.
Interior design curricula are built around a studio sequence, and everything else in the program exists to make the studio work competent. Understanding the three layers helps you read a course catalog and tell a professional program from a decorating program.
The first layer is design foundations. Drawing and visual communication, two- and three-dimensional design principles, color theory, and the history of architecture, interiors, and furniture. Early studios assign small residential or single-room problems and teach you to develop a concept, plan a space, and present it. Drafting begins here, usually by hand first and then in AutoCAD, because reading and producing scaled drawings is the literacy the rest of the degree assumes.
The second layer is the technical core, and it is what distinguishes interior design from decorating. Building codes and life safety – occupancy classification, egress, fire separation, and the accessibility requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act – are taught as design constraints you plan around from the first sketch, not as a checklist applied at the end. Materials and finishes covers specification, performance, flammability, durability, and the sustainability profile of what you put in a building. Lighting design covers daylighting, electric lighting, controls, and the calculations behind them. Construction documents teaches you to produce plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules, and specifications that a contractor can price and build from. Building systems introduces structure, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing well enough to coordinate with the engineers who design them. Revit is typically introduced in this layer, and sustainable design – often organized around frameworks like LEED and WELL – runs through it.
The third layer is advanced studio and professional practice. Upper-level studios take on commercial, hospitality, healthcare, workplace, or retail projects of increasing scale, often with real or simulated clients, and they demand full documentation rather than a concept board. Professional practice covers contracts, fees, project management, procurement, business ethics, and the regulatory landscape of the profession. A capstone or thesis project and a portfolio course close the degree, and CIDA-accredited programs generally require a supervised internship. Bachelor’s programs run about 120 credits with the studio sequence spanning every year; associate programs run about 60 credits and compress foundations and technical basics; master’s programs vary widely depending on whether they are first-professional or post-professional.
Most graduates begin as junior or assistant designers in a firm, where the early years are spent producing drawings and documentation, building material and finish specifications, coordinating samples and procurement, and supporting senior designers on client presentations. The specialty you land in shapes the work more than the title does. Commercial and workplace design is heavily technical, code-driven, and Revit-based, with large teams and long project timelines. Hospitality and healthcare design are specialties with their own regulatory and performance layers – healthcare in particular demands fluency in infection control, patient safety, and evidence-based design. Residential design ranges from high-end custom work to production builder design centers, involves more direct client management, and is where the boundary with decorating is blurriest. Kitchen and bath design is a distinct specialty with its own certification body, the National Kitchen and Bath Association.
Beyond the designer title, interior design graduates work as CAD or Revit technicians, specification writers, lighting designers, space planners and facilities coordinators inside corporations, showroom and manufacturer representatives, furniture dealership designers, visual merchandisers, set and exhibition designers, and design project managers. The graphic design overlap is real in firms that produce branded environments, signage, and wayfinding. The construction management overlap matters for designers who move toward owner’s representation or design-build. For general labor-market context, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Interior design or a related field? Choose interior design if you want to plan and document occupied space and pursue NCIDQ. Consider graphic design if what draws you is visual communication rather than built space, user experience if you are interested in how people move through environments but would rather work in digital products, construction management if you prefer the building side to the design side, real estate if staging, development, and property positioning is the appeal, or a liberal arts degree with an art history or studio concentration if you are not yet certain that a professional design track is right.
Looking for programs near you? Browse interior design programs by state.
Aiming at the professional credential? See how to become an interior designer for the education, experience, NCIDQ, and state registration sequence. Wondering where the degree leads? See what you can do with an interior design degree for the jobs and BLS salary data behind it. Compare programs by topic:
