See the BFA Interior Design curriculum chart here.

Interior design students are encouraged to consider one of the Undergraduate Minors available to all CCA students, including:

• Computational Practices
• Ecological Practice
• Social Practice and Community Engagement (SPACE)
• History of Art and Visual Culture (formerly Visual Studies)
• Writing and Literature

Undergraduate Minor requirements typically replace existing studio elective and humanities requirements, and typically do not add additional time to graduation. Contact your Academic Advisor if you have questions about adding a minor to your academic plan.

Design Process

• Students show clear methodology, coherent narrative, conceptual rigor and evidence of iteration in the conceptualizing and making of interior spaces.

Cultural Literacy

• Students are capable of utilizing a scholarly methodology based in visual studies for reading the interior as it relates to culture and habitation. Students understand that interior design is for all people and is inclusive of a spectrum of people's physical, sensorial, cognitive and cultural needs.

Material Knowledge

• Students have the knowledge and technical ability to specify materials based on aesthetics and performance (including color theory), and know how to work with materials and material processes, including traditional manufacturing and digital fabrication.

Design Media

• Students achieve elevated expertise in visual design media, including sketching, digital rendering and generative design techniques, as well as the ability to communicate effectively through oral and written means.

Lighting Technology

• Students have a robust foundational knowledge of building systems, especially for lighting and building systems *Building Technology did not run 23/24 due to a low enrollment strategy. This course will run Spring 24 and will be evaluated JR Fall 25.

Sustainable and Ecological Impacts

• Students are knowledgeable of material behaviors and the configuration of assemblies that affect performance of interior systems and applications including aspects of durability, habitability and sustainability.

Global Historical Perspective

• Students understand the history of the interior environment from a global perspective.

Diverse International Professionalism

• Students are prepared for international design leadership in a culturally and economically diverse and rapidly-growing profession (assessed: ProPrac, Internship, IIDA Campus Center and leadership extra-curricular structures).

California College of the Arts educates students to shape culture through the practice and critical study of design, architecture, fine arts, and writing.

Through coursework rooted in the many facets of a studio practice, a rigorous general education curriculum, and enriching co-curricular experiences, students prepare for a lifetime creating work that matters.

This preparation culminates in graduates whose creative practices demonstrate the perceptual acuity, conceptual understanding, and technical facility sufficient for them to begin work on a professional level.

See the college-wide learning outcomes here.