"The Top Interior Design Schools of 2005"

The sixth annual ranking of top interior design schools honors programs that best train students for real-world interior design.

Design Intelligence journal and the Design Futures Council asked more than 1000 designers in prominent American firms to name the best accredited interior design programs. These top interior design schools turn out the most "profession-ready" young designers, according to the experts who recruit, hire, and evaluate recent graduates:

1. University of Cincinnati, Ohio, offers a top interdisciplinary design education through its College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.


2. Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, a socially and architecturally-conscious B.F.A. program in Interior Design, has graduated a "Who's Who" of contemporary designers.


3. Kansas State University, Manhattan, a top program for six years, offers a versatile Interior Architecture/Design degree for a bargain price.


4. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, awards its Interior Design degree through the Department of Design & Environmental Analysis, College of Human Ecology.


5. Arizona State University, Tempe, offers a five-year B.S.D. degree in Interior Design though the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.


6. University of Oregon, Eugene's Interior Architecture program stresses the "behavioral, technological and aesthetic" aspects of interior design.


7. Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, awards a B.S. in Interior Design through its Department of Consumer Affairs, approaching design from a consumer-centered perspective.


8. (tie) University of Texas at Austin offers degrees in Interior Design, Sustainable (Green) Design, Urban Design, and Historic Preservation.

Washington State University, Spokane, a smaller program mainly serving the Northwest, stresses design that supports "human activities and values."


9. (tie) California College of the Arts, San Francisco, is a culturally-centered, interdisciplinary program aiming to produce "well-rounded" designers.

   University of Florida, Gainesville's Department of Interior Design emphasizes undergraduate design studios where interior design is both art and science.