There is only one Mizzou
The University of Missouri was established in 1839 as the first public university west of the Mississippi River and the first state university in Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase Territory. MU is a land grant university, a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
- Award-winning PhD teaching faculty are recognized by DesignIntelligence. See faculty credentials.
- We are committed to integrating digital media with the learning of design. The Immersion Visualization lab “iLab” provides research opportunities and the Cynthia Adams Francis Collaboration Lab supports synchronous online distance education.
- Our Advisory Board is a dedicated group of practicing professionals involved in academic development, student career development, internships, employment, and financial support. They come to campus both fall and spring semesters to meet with students and participate in mock interviews and thesis critiques.
- Nationally recognized speakers come to campus each semester. The speaker series is supported by two endowments.
- Graduate and Undergraduate scholarships and study abroad opportunities are available to students.
- The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) accredits the interior design program. The interior design program has had continuous accreditation since 1972.
- The accredited interior design program and online graduate program are nationally recognized by DesignIntelligence.
- Our PhD program is one of eleven in the nation and the only online program.
- The Department is the home of the federally funded Great Plains ADA Center with a 5-yr grant at $1 mil/annual.
- Our outreach includes Extension activities, speaker series, community service, cooperative agreements, national memberships, and leadership.
- Our program has enjoyed a long and accomplished history.
It typically takes a full-time student taking approximately 15 credits per semester four years to complete the degree program. The department offers a variety of courses in the summer to assist with progress toward degree, but taking summer courses is not necessary in our sequence. Transfer students can expect the degree to take approximately 3 years from the time the student is admitted to the professional program. The following data was collected using departmental and institutional records. The calculations for post-graduation jobs and graduate school acceptance were created using publicly available data on LinkedIn together with faculty knowledge of student placement [where the final dataset included information for 22 out of 24 graduates in academic year (AY) 2022-2023].
Student Attrition and Retention
- 89.5% of interior design students admitted in the fall of 2022 returned in the fall of 2023, putting attrition at 10.5%.
Graduation Rates
- Of the interior design students graduating in AY2022-2023, the average amount of time in the professional program was 3 years beyond the first year of foundation courses. 83.3% of students graduating in AY2022-2023 completed their degree in 4 years. 96% graduated in 5 years.
Acceptance into Graduate Programs:
- 1 out of 24 interior design students who graduated in AY2022-2023 applied to graduate school, and 100% were accepted.
Job Placement Rates:
- Of the interior design students graduating in AY2022-2023, 90.9% were employed in interior design or a related profession within 9 months of graduation.
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The chart below provides student responses on quality of program’s studio facilities:
| Poor | Adequate | Good | Very Good | Excellent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access to facilities | 0% | 11% | 17% | 11% | 61% |
| Dedicated studio space | 0% | 6% | 22% | 22% | 50% |
| Lighting (natural light) | 17% | 0% | 22% | 11% | 50% |
| Size of facilities | 11% | 11% | 11% | 22% | 44% |
| Student to faculty time | 6% | 0% | 11% | 22% | 61% |
| Technology | 6% | 6% | 11% | 33% | 44% |
Demonstrating their high career goals, students plan to work in the field or go to graduate school and 60% (among both majors) plan to take the NCIDQ professional exam. In addition, students felt the quality of their program was oriented to the Architecture 2030 mandate as essential for sustainable design (DesignIntelligence, Q3, 2017, page 188).