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2025 Best Interior Design Schools in California

8 Colleges in California
693 Interior Design Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in interior design, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #150 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 8 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Interior Design Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 693 degrees in interior design to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Interior Design School

Best Interior Design Schools in California Your choice of interior design school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Interior Design School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Interior Design Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Interior Design
Bachelor's Degrees in Interior Design

The interior design school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Interior Design Schools in California. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Interior Design in California

The schools below may not offer all types of interior design degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

Top California Schools in Interior Design

1
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA

FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in interior design. FIDM Los Angeles is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

There were about 17 interior design students who graduated with this degree at FIDM Los Angeles in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in interior design from FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - Los Angeles

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
79 Interior Design Degrees Awarded

San Francisco State University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in interior design. SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #225 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 79 interior design students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in interior design from San Francisco State University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
35 Interior Design Degrees Awarded

It is hard to beat California State University - Long Beach if you wish to pursue a degree in interior design. CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Long Beach. A Best Colleges rank of #246 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.

There were about 35 interior design students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in interior design from California State University - Long Beach

4
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
13th Most Popular In CA

It is hard to beat California College of the Arts if you wish to pursue a degree in interior design. California College of the Arts is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of San Francisco.

There were approximately 14 interior design students who graduated with this degree at California College of the Arts in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in interior design from California College of the Arts

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
34th Most Popular In CA

Located in the large city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 66th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 5 interior design students who graduated with this degree at Cal Baptist in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in interior design from California Baptist University

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA
15.0% Growth in Graduates

Fresno State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Fresno. This university ranks 81st out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 20 interior design students who graduated with this degree at Fresno State in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in interior design from California State University - Fresno

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
40.0% Growth in Graduates

Design Institute of San Diego is a small private for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

There were about 30 interior design students who graduated with this degree at Design Institute of San Diego in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in interior design from Design Institute of San Diego

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
47 Interior Design Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Newport Beach, Interior Designers Institute is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

There were roughly 47 interior design students who graduated with this degree at Interior Designers Institute in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in interior design from Interior Designers Institute

Best Interior Design Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Interior Design Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 164
Oregon 587 105
Hawaii 267 9

View All Rankings >

One of 9 majors within the Design & Applied Arts area of study, Interior Design has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Graphic Design 1,414
Visual Communications 720
Fashion Design 531
Game & Interactive Media Design 363
Other Design & Applied Arts 347
Illustration 306
Industrial Design 276
Commercial & Advertising Art 116
Commercial Photography 2

View All Interior Design Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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