Interior Design Certification and Licensure by Jurisdiction

Many states do not have recognition or certification procedures in effect yet for interior designers in the same manner as they do for architects and other related professionals. Greater professional recognition is a goal of IIDA, ASID, and other interior design professional associations. In the states that do have certification/licensure processes for interior design, the basic requirements tend to be some combination of 2-4 years of interior design education (i.e. an interior design degree), passing the NCIDQ exam, and some years of supervised work experience. The IIDA (International Interior Design Association) has some very helpful background information about professional recognition with additional state-level details here.

NYSID supports the further professional recognition of practicing interior designers and encourages its graduates to seek out these qualifications and recognitions where they exist. As a resource to our community, this table provides a detailed view by jurisdiction (states, territories) of how the various program offerings at NYSID meet the educational requirements for licensure/recognition. Currently, only the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Puerto Rico have mandatory registration requirements to practice interior design (or at least commercial interior design in the case of Oklahoma). For all other states this kind of recognition is optional for professional practice, or the state has no recognition or may only have proposed legislation on professional recognition that has not yet been implemented. International students and graduates planning to practice outside the USA are encouraged to research requirements for any additional professional licensure/certification requirements in the country they are seeking employment.

Below is a brief overview of NYSID programs along with the determination of whether they meet the educational criteria for registration requirements in each of the five mandatory jurisdictions (District of Columbia, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Puerto Rico). Note that all Master of Professional Studies (MPS) programs are post-professional specialty advanced programs (i.e. Design of Healthcare Environments, Digital Practice Management, Lighting Design, and Sustainable Interior Environments) and are not designed to satisfy requirements for practice registration because the bachelor’s degree that qualifies one for admissions to these programs is typically the educational credential that qualifies one for registration. Additionally, the Basic Interior Design Certificate is an introductory certificate that is not designed to meet registration requirements in any jurisdiction, but it prepares students for admissions into degree programs such as the AAS and BFA in Interior Design. This linked table provides further details including links to state/territories with their registration requirements.