Colleges & Universities Offering Interior Design & Architecture in New Jersey & New York

Interior design and architecture go hand in hand in designing the physical places where we live and work. Both fields require not only creativity, but training in specific technical skills and design techniques. From associate to master's degree programs and beyond, colleges and universities throughout the New York and New Jersey area offer opportunities for students to get started in these growing fields.

Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, houses both a School of Architecture and a School of Art and Design. The latter offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Science in Interior Design. A minor in interior design is also available to architecture students, allowing for a crossover between the two disciplines. The School of Architecture offers a Bachelor of Architecture degree, which is a five-year professional degree program. The school also offers several graduate degree options in architecture and urban design, including both a Master of Science in Architecture and a Master of Architecture professional degree.

Syracuse University in New York offers both interior design and architecture programs. The interior design program, offered through the College of Visual and Performing Arts Department of Design, leads to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. The program is architecturally oriented and students are prepared for careers in both interior design and architectural firms. The School of Architecture at Syracuse offers a Bachelor of Architecture degree. In addition to class work and a lecture series, students spend time in the design studio working on projects.

Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey, offers its students the opportunity to pursue two-year associate degrees in either architecture or interior design. The architecture program, leading to an Associate of Science degree, is intended for those who plan to transfer to a bachelor degree program in architecture. The interior design program, leading to an Associate of Applied Science degree, prepares students immediately for entry-level positions in this field, though the school encourages students to continue on to a four-year program.

At New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, both the interior design and the architecture programs are housed within the College of Architecture and Design. The New Jersey School of Architecture offers both a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. Graduate programs offered include master’s degrees, doctorates and graduate certificates. Specialties in the graduate programs include infrastructure planning, urban systems and sustainable design. Because the interior design program is housed in the same college, students interact with architecture students as well as engineers and industrial designers. Both programs are studio based, allowing students to develop hands-on projects.