Interior Design B.S.

A comprehensive approach to contemporary interior design

If you are interested in learning physical environment design through a multidisciplinary lens, the Interior Design B.S. degree may be a good fit for you. It is a highly structured CIDA accredited program, at the forefront of sustainability, that focuses on state-of-the-art methods to train students to enter the design profession.

Faculty members emphasize collaboration and the creative use of technology to prepare students for their careers. Your mentors come from a wide range of design disciplines and possess a broad experience of the design fields, including interior design, architecture, landscape architecture, fine art, graphic design, and information design.

CIDA Accreditation

The interior design program in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design program has been continuously accredited by CIDA (the Council for Interior Design Accreditation) since 1992, along with 150 others nationwide and in Canada.

Deliver a globally focused design program whose curricula and instructional methodologies provide students with a world class education in the study of design and professional interior architectural design.

Our interior design program is multidisciplinary, focusing on integrating the understanding of user needs through the use of state-of-the-art design methods. The curriculum emphasizes relationships between aesthetic, behavioral, and technological concerns in creation of responsive interior environments. There is an emphasis on collaboration and creative use of technology in the program.

  • Provide students with education, historical perspectives and technical skills required of thoughtful and aesthetically talented designers.
  • Offer students an educational curriculum whose courses feature cohesive linkages, thus allowing them to expand their design knowledge and expertise in a logical progression as they proceed through the program.
  • Cultivate a user-responsive design philosophy within students in which the needs of users drive design process, rather than vice versa.
  • Provide students with opportunities to establish and refine their creative skills using the latest design technologies.
  • Encourage and allow students to explore specialized areas of design interest.

Graduation Rates:

  • 70% of the class of 2018 graduated in 4 years
  • 25% of the class of 2018 graduated in 5 years, and 5% in 6 years (part-time and transfer students)

Student Attrition and Retention:

  • 64% of students admitted in the fall of 2017 returned in the fall of 2018, putting attrition at 36%
  • 62% of students admitted in the fall of 2018 returned in the fall of 2019, putting attrition at 38%

Job Placement Rates:

  • 81.8% of students who graduated in 2017-2018 are employed in interior design or a related profession

Acceptance into Graduate Programs:

  • 2 students who graduated in 2017-2018 applied and were accepted into graduate school

B.S. in Interior Design curriculum

Along with the CASE Credit Hour and Residency Requirements, students must complete the following:

  1. Foundations
    1. CASE English Composition
    2. Mathematical Modeling
  2. CASE Foreign Language Choose from:
    1. CASE Foreign Language: proficiency in a single foreign language through the second semester of the second year of college-level coursework.
    2. Proficiency in a single foreign language through the second semester of the first year of college-level coursework in addition to the completion of the CASE Culture Studies requirements (both CASE Diversity in the United States and CASE Global Civilizations and Cultures).
  3. CASE Intensive Writing
  4. CASE Breadth of Inquiry
    1. Arts and Humanities: 4 courses
    2. Social and Historical Studies: 4 courses
    3. Natural and Mathematical Sciences: 3 courses
  5. CASE Critical Approaches
  6. CASE Public Oral Communication

Interior Design coursework

Students must complete at least 54 credit hours of coursework in the Interior Design major, including:

  • SOAD-A 100 Pathways: Introduction to Art, Design and Merchandising
  • SOAD-A 101 Creative Core: Color or FINA-F 102 Fundamental Studio—2D
  • SOAD-A 211 Cross-Disciplinary Workshops in Art, Design, and Merchandising
  • SOAD-D 168 Beginning Interior Architectural Design Studio
  • SOAD-D 271 Intermediate Interior Architectural Design Studio 1
  • SOAD-D 272 Intermediate Interior Architectural Design Studio 2
  • 12 credit hours of Advanced Studio courses, chosen from the following (at least 3 credit hours must be in D374):
    • SOAD-D 374 Advanced Interior Architectural Design Studio: Global Context
    • SOAD-D 475 Advanced Interior Architectural Design Studio: Contemporary Issues
  • SOAD-D 264 Digital Architectural Drawing
  • SOAD-D 335 Lighting Interior Spaces I
  • SOAD-D 336 Lighting Interior Spaces II
  • SOAD-D 263 Design Methods
  • SOAD-D 268 Architectural Theories and Concepts
  • SOAD-D 365 Architectural, Interior, and Furniture Design Studies
  • SOAD-D 277 Materials and Components of Interior Design
  • SOAD-D 302 Architectural Documentation
  • SOAD-D 469 Professional Practices in Interior Design

Choose two (2) courses from the following:

  • SOAD-C 280 Introduction to Comprehensive Design
  • SOAD-C 380 Topical Issues in Comprehensive Design
  • SOAD-C 381 Topical Issues in Collaborative Design
  • SOAD-C 480 Special Problems in Comprehensive Design
  • SOAD-C 481 Intensive Seminar in Comprehensive Design
  • SOAD-D 191 Design Studies: Form and Function
  • SOAD-D 201 3D Modeling for Design and Digital Fabrication
  • SOAD-D 202 Interior Visualization
  • SOAD-D 203 Green Building Concepts and Technologies
  • SOAD-D 290 Special Topics in Interior Design
  • SOAD-D 394 Advanced Digital Architectural Drawing
  • SOAD-D 485 Advanced Special Topics in Interior Design
  • SOAD-X 490 Independent Study in Interior Design
  • ARTH-A 102 Renaissance through Modern Art
View a full list of courses and descriptions

Enhance your major

Find internships

Study overseas

Collaborate + volunteer

Is it for you?

Interior Design is a major for people who are interested in combining the aesthetic qualities emphasized in traditional art programs with the technological qualities associated with scientific disciplines. If you have a strong desire to create compelling environments where people live and work, you might want to check out interior design.

Students typically have some of the following qualities:

  • Fascination with residential and commercial spaces and how they are used
  • Particular interest in the fine arts, especially the following disciplines: drawing, graphic design, sculpture, photography or furniture building
  • Interest in sustainability and ecological living

Learn the industry of interior design

You will gain broad understanding of 3-dimensional design principles, space planning, and the history of interior, architectural, and furniture design.

You will also acquire skills with the latest design and documentation software to illustrate your concepts and solutions for projects examining the whole spectrum of human activity. Examples include business and commercial establishments (offices and stores), places for recreation and hospitality (hotels, restaurants, resorts), health and cultural institutions (hospitals, schools, libraries, theaters, museums, places of worship), and residential interiors.

Architectural rendering.
Three students work on a project together.

Work productively in teams of artists + designers

Creative collaboration is a skill that takes years to master. You will have the ability to respect, understand, and critically evaluate work across the disciplines of art, design, and merchandising. And you will gain a thorough understanding of the skills needed to solve problems unique to the industry.

Interior design internships

Interior Design majors take their education in many directions. Most students will work approximately 2–3 years to qualify to take the National Council for Interior Design Qualification exam. Others may choose to attend graduate school.

Interior Design majors can become commercial designers, civic designers, residential designers, in-store designers, and design specialists. They can work in sales and marketing or education, among many other options.

Previous Interior Design students have accepted internships with the following organizations:

  • arcDESIGN
  • Brenner Design
  • Brynn Olson Design Group, LLC
  • Exhibit Columbus
  • Gensler
  • IDO Incorporated
  • Haworth, Inc.
  • HKS Maregatti
  • Indiana University Architect’s Office
  • Indiana University Office of Sustainability
  • Indiana University Residential Programs and Services, Interior Design Department
  • Interior Management, Inc.
  • Kimball Office
  • Mitsch Design
  • Nate Berkus Associates
  • Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd.
  • SOM | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
  • The Walt Disney Company
  • Urban Outfitters, Inc.

Learn more and apply

Schedule a visit to explore your options. Complete information about the requirements of the major can be found in the College of Arts and Sciences Bulletin.

Apply now