Masters in Interior Designing in USA

The Master of Interior Design (MID) program provides an education in interior environments that elevates and reinvents the discipline of interior architecture by mining and re-imagining the range of our human experiences. In doing so, this graduate program cultivates scholars, academics and critics, while generating emergent and alternative approaches to the profession, specifically in the Southern California region.

The curriculum of the Interior Design program ensures a comprehensive exposure to an array of perspectives as represented by the various approaches to media, conceptual development, content, visual representation, and a variety of teaching styles exhibited by our faculty. The program is highly individualized and ideal candidates will have already completed an undergraduate degree in interior design or a related field, ideally followed by some professional experience on which the graduate student reflects during their time in the program.

Students are encouraged to pursue new forms of expanded interiors practice and research while building on traditional design practice competencies. While students work in the interior design and graphic design combined seminar for a majority of their studio credit hours, they are highly encouraged to move within other studio areas within the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design that align with an expanded understanding of contemporary interiors practice, including 3D studies (sculpture, ceramics, and textiles), drawing, painting and printmaking, and photography, to name a few.

Opportunities: A significant component of the Interior Design graduate program revolves around the students’ 10-hour per week paid assistantships, either as graduate research assistants (GRA) assigned to specific faculty research initiatives, as studio lab assistants (GLA) working in essential support areas of the school (e.g., CAD labs, 3D maker spaces, materials resource labs) or teaching undergraduate-level courses as graduate teaching assistants (GTA). Following year-one requisite preparation in instruction, year-two and three GTAs are encouraged to teach a range of undergraduate courses related to their degree. Possible courses include Introduction to Studio, 3D Design, Drafting, and select courses in our CAD sequence. Actual course teaching opportunities will vary depending on departmental needs and specific language and skillsets unique to each GTA. These experiences, in conjunction with the acquisition of professional skills in evidence-based research, prepare the student with the tools to be a professional practitioner or educator once their studies are complete.

Beyond assistantship responsibilities, M.F.A. candidates in Interior Design are encouraged to pursue professional internships with one of the numerous interior design firms in Atlanta. Notably, 9 of the top 10 firms listed in Interior Design magazine’s 2020 Top 100 Giants have offices in Atlanta, with GSU alumni currently employed at 8 of those top 10 firms, including Gensler, Perkins & Will, HOK, Nelson Worldwide, and Hirsch Bedner Associates.

Research Thesis: In addition to the required coursework, M.F.A. candidates must produce a written graduate research thesis with a graphic component. This written document, combined with a specialized design project reflecting the chosen area of research, completes the thesis and is presented in a final M.F.A. thesis exhibition prior to graduation.

The graduate program in Interior Architecture & Design offers a first professional Master of Science degree that prepares students of diverse undergraduate backgrounds to become leaders in the field of interior design. We are consistently ranked among the top programs in the country, and in the survey by Design Intelligence of “America's Best Design Schools." As one of the few CIDA accredited graduate programs in the country, our students are on the fast-track to licensure and are highly prepared to enter the professional world of interior architecture and design. Our coursework teaches conceptual, technical, and hands-on approaches in designing a range of spaces. Student work includes public, commercial, residential, and institutional projects in which students learn to transform environments to address aesthetic, social, physical and psychological needs. In conjunction with our integrated studio approach, the program emphasizes independent research culminating in a master's thesis.

Comprised of 69.0 graduate credits, most students complete the MS Interior Architecture & Design program in two to three years, depending upon individual student backgrounds and the completion of all necessary prerequisites.