Bachelor of Science Degree in Interior Design

The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Interior Design, accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA, formerly FIDER), is a four-year professional degree centered on a collaborative studio-based curriculum and grounded in architectural design.

In this program students learn to address design requirements through commercial, institutional, recreational, and residential projects. Curriculum emphasis includes design process, 3-D modeling, critical and creative thinking, and professional practice. Studio culture forms an environment of dialogue and discovery through which issues and ideas, pragmatic concerns, material conditions, technology, and process intermingle in the practice of design. In addition to profession-oriented studios, some design studios offer collaborative work with architecture students and design professionals or focus on design / build projects. Courses in design theory, history, materials and methods, building technology, color, lighting, and graphic communication enhance the students’ abilities to create innovative and environmentally friendly spaces.

This degree requires a minimum of 132 semester credit hours, including Core Curriculum requirements, and at least 54 of which must be at the upper-division level. Students are advised to complete the degree coursework in the order indicated within the course catalog issued by the College of Architecture for their catalog year.

Program Philosophy
The Interior Design (IDE) program supports a commitment to excellence in education with a humanistic focus by providing students with a challenging academic program emphasizing resourceful, flexible, adaptable, innovative, creative thinking and problem solving, applied research, and hands-on experiences of design theory applied to educational activities.

The interior design IDE program is a professional program leading to the practice of design through a set of core values grounded in design fundamentals. The IDE program believes these values not only inform, guide, and define the professional practice but respond to the ongoing global development of the profession. Through collaboration with the community and design professionals we foster education and research in sustainable practice, creativity, design theories, and workmanship, resulting in graduates prepared for culturally innovative leadership who have a commitment to professional ethics and a life long passion for learning.

Program Mission
The core educational mission of the Interior Design (IDE) Program at the University of Texas San Antonio is to develop in students a commitment to ethical and innovative leadership based upon understanding the significance and interaction of theory, technical design, sustainability, creativity, culture and community.

Program Goals
Foster leadership in innovative, professional and ethical design practice through a mastery of knowledge, applied research and creative, technical and professional skills
Foster stewardship of sustainable development
Foster student exposure to the global world of design through experience
Foster a life- long passion of learning
Foster collaboration and outreach among peers, design professionals and community

UTSA Catalog Information