In the next two weeks, you may be randomly selected to participate in a study.

 

University of Minnesota professors Denise Guerin and Caren Martin will be collecting information based on your perception of how your interior design knowledge contributes to the public's health, safety and welfare. This survey will be online and will only take about 15 minutes to complete.

 

Watch for this important invitation. Your response is essential to the completion of the next 'Body of Knowledge' study. The 'Body of Knowledge' study is a research project that NCIDQ contributes to along with the American Society of Interior Designers, the International Interior Design Association, the Interior Designers of Canada, the Interior Design Educators Council and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. It is a major project that affects the interior design profession.

 

If you receive the survey we appreciate your contribution to the research by taking the time to complete it.

 

The second largest group of applicants were individuals who hold bachelor's or master's degrees in interior design from non-CIDA accredited programs. Combined, these first two routes represented more than 75 percent of all applicants. In addition to their degrees, these applicants were required to have worked in the field for at least 3,520 hours (about two years).

 

Because the profession has many other types of education, NCIDQ allows applicants to qualify through four other combinations of education and experience. The next largest group, representing nine percent of applicants, are those with a bachelor's degree in some other field who have changed professions and gone on to earn additional education in interior design. These applicants also worked at least 3,520 hours in the field before becoming eligible.

 

The final three groups represented about 13 percent of applicants. Applicants with an associate's degree or equivalent that had at least 60 semester hours of interior design education and 5,280 hours of work experience represented six percent. Those with an associate's degree or equivalent that had 40 to 59 semester hours of interior design education and 7,040 hours of work experience represented another six percent.

 

The final group qualified through our newest route. The newest path is for applicants with an architectural education who have been practicing interior design, not architecture, and who wish to be credentialed as interior designers. In 2009, the first year this was available, less than one percent of our applicants qualified through this path.

 

As you can see, despite the variety of opportunities to qualify for the NCIDQ Examination, the vast majority are those with bachelor's or master's degrees in interior design.

For a complete overview of the eligibility routes, click here.

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