Established in 1970 by leading interior design professional organizations to develop standards for interior design education. CIDA chiefly sets standards for postsecondary interior design education and evaluates and accredits college and university interior design programs.
CIDA develops quality standards for higher education at the institution or program level, focused on interior design programs that provide an entry-level professional education. Accreditation, a voluntary process, begins with a program self-study, followed by a series of evaluations and reviews by a CIDA visiting team, other CIDA peer evaluators and finally the CIDA Accreditation Commission. The commission makes the final decision to award or deny accreditation. All evaluators are interior design practitioners and educators.
Interior design remains subject to regulation in some states, and accreditation may impact school funding, transfer credit or how future employers will view the credibility of the interior design training. CIDA assures quality by only granting accreditation to those institutions that meet or surpass its requirements.
CIDA updates its accredited program list twice a year, after Accreditation Commission meetings. Accredited schools earn a six-year term of accreditation, subject to reevaluation at the term's end to make certain it continues to meet CIDA standards. CIDA posts the most up-to-date program list on its website (See Resources).