Interior Architecture MFA
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
The only CIDA-accredited program in the nation’s capital, we create innovative design thinkers
Our mission is to educate future designers on all aspects of the discipline so that they contribute to and advance the field of interior design through professional projects and creative research.
Our four core goals are design excellence, creative scholarship, sense of community and identity, and outreach and engagement with Washington and beyond.
The Master of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture at the Corcoran School prepares students to design innovative, functional environments through a studio-based curriculum emphasizing conceptual thinking, creative exploration and the design process. Students work with emerging materials, methods and technologies while developing projects ranging from intimate interiors to complex commercial and institutional spaces.
Located within an arts and design school at a major research university in Washington, D.C., the program offers opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, adaptive reuse projects in historic contexts and engagement with contemporary global design issues. A carefully sequenced curriculum combines studio projects with lectures and critiques from distinguished professionals, building students’ theoretical, technical and creative expertise.
Designed for students with bachelor’s degrees in fields other than interior design or architecture, the MFA is a terminal degree that can prepare graduates for professional practice and teaching at the college or university level. Students learn from internationally recognized faculty whose research and professional work span sustainability, design history, lighting, pedagogy and other areas of the field.
The interior design program leading to the MFA in Interior Architecture is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation, 206 Cesar E. Chavez Ave SW, Suite 350, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. The CIDA-accredited program prepares students for entry-level interior design practice, for advanced study, and to apply for membership in professional interior design organizations. The MFA in Interior Architecture granted by the George Washington University meets the educational requirement for eligibility to sit for the National Council for Interior Design Qualification Examination (NCIDQ Exam). For more information about exam eligibility, visit their site.
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
Application Requirements Apply Find Funding Our Faculty Our Spaces Contact
MORE TO EXPLORE
INFORMATION SESSIONS
Each academic year, we offer virtual information sessions led by faculty to help prospective students learn more about our programs, faculty expertise, and application process.
MFA and MA in Interior Architecture
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026,
2 p.m. ET
This session is part of the CCAS Graduate Programs Open House event. Event registration coming soon.
MFA and MA in Interior Architecture
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026,
2 p.m. ET
MFA and MA in Interior Architecture
Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2027,
2 p.m. ET
- Program of Study
The IA program is a rigorous full-time, five-semester 60-credit curriculum that takes two years to complete. Students begin the program in the fall semester only.
What is the difference between interior design, interior architecture and architecture? Learn more in our handout (PDF).
Courses Curriculum Map (PDF)Technology Requirements (PDF) Certification Tracks (PDF)
- Skills You'll Develop
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- Learning in Practice
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Where This Degree Can Take You
POSSIBLE CAREER PATHS
With 75,000+ jobs that generate $5 billion annually across design, media and other creative fields, D.C.'s creative sector is key to the city's economy. There is no shortage of need for interior designers in our city, or nationally, as interior spaces are constantly renovated and re-adapted, specifically in urban areas.
Incorporating conceptual and practical thinking with a design- and technical-based education, the IA experience prepares our students for meaningful, creative employment in the design field. Our program also brings in many professionals from leading architecture and interior design firms in D.C. for critiques, lectures and events such as our advisory board. Activities like these help our students make connections and find jobs.
Our graduates have gone on to successful careers across the US and internationally at reputable architecture and interior design firms such as SmithGroup, Gensler, OTJ Architects, Perkins + Will, RTKL, Studios Architecture, CORE architecture + design, HapstakDemetriou+, and more. Our graduates have also started their own firms, freelanced independently, and worked in creative fields that align with interiors such as exhibit design, art consulting, and academia.
Our students win many prestigious design competitions such as the Steelcase National NEXT Student Design Competition, where in 2021, we had three students in the top 10 entries from 900 entries and 65+ programs entered. We also had a student recognized as a Metropolis Future 100, which is one of the top 100 graduate students in architecture and design programs in the US and Canada sponsored by Metropolis Magazine.
INTERNSHIPS + WHERE ALUMNI ARE WORKING
- Smith Group Architecture and Planning, DC
- Darryl Carter Inc., DC
- Lisa Galano Design Consultancy, NYC
- Christopher Boutlier, DC
- Atelier MJK, DC
- KSS Architects, Philadelphia
- Paris Forino Interior Design, NYC
- MCLA Architectural Lighting Design, DC
- Gensler, DC
- Studios Architecture, DC
- Distinctive Designs by Janelle, DC
- BKV Group, DC
- Streetsense Design, Bethesda
- Baskervill Architecture and Planning, DC
- HDR Design, DC
- CORE Architecture + Design, DC
- //3877 Architecture + Planning, DC
- Interior Matter Design, DC
- Freelance Design Consultant, DC EYP Architecture and Engineering
- Hickok Cole Architects, DC
- OTJ Architects, DC
- Sun Design Remodeling
- Robin Chell Design, Seattle
- M Design Studio, Alexandria
- Blake Dickson Commercial Real Estate Brokerage, DC
- DMoreno Design Freelance Designer
- Hapstak Demetriou, DC
- KGD Architecture, DC
- LKK Design Co, DC
- Zoe Feldman Design, DC
'I wanted the space to celebrate the act of learning; reflecting both the formal and structured phase of learning as well as the more informal, innovative phase that students experience as they make their way through school.'
Hannah Gilbertson
MFA '20
The Student Experience
Course Spotlight: Lorem ipsum dolor
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NEXT Festival
Students at the Corcoran have exhibited their thesis work for more than 30 years. In 2011, the exhibition came to be known as NEXT in a nod to the public seeing “what’s next” in contemporary art and scholarship. In 2023, NEXT evolved into a festival format to encompass the diversity of all the school’s programs and provide more public facing programming for the DC community. See examples from past classes’ culminating projects and work.
Alumni Stories & Outcomes
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Faculty Who Work in the Field
- Faculty Member Name
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- Faculty Member Name
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- Faculty Member Name
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- Faculty Member Name
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STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA
Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture
2021 Graduates
For the MFA, it typically takes a full-time student taking 12 credits for five consecutive semesters, starting in the fall semester, to complete the degree program. This data was collected by referring to LinkedIn, to see where students were employed, as well as emailing alumni directly.
Attrition and Retention
BFA: 87% of students admitted to the program in spring of 2019 graduated in the Spring of 2021, putting attrition at 13%
MFA: 80% of the cohort beginning the IA Program in the fall of 2019 graduated in the spring of 2021
Graduation Rates
BFA: 87% of the cohort beginning the IA program in the spring of 2019 graduated in the spring of 2021
MFA: 80% of the cohort beginning the IA Program in the fall of 2019 graduated in the spring of 2021
Degrees Awarded
May 2021:
BFA: 20
MFA: 12
Acceptance into Graduate Programs
BFA: 10% of students who graduated in 2021 applied for graduate school, and all were accepted.
Job Placement Rates
BFA: 85% of students who graduated in 2021 are employed in interior design or a related profession.
MFA: 92% of students who graduated in 2021 are employed in interior design or a related profession
Program of Study (image left)
Application Process (image right)
Upcoming Events
Interior Architecture in the News
Student dancers waltz through dress rehearsal ahead of fall concert
November 21, 2024
Updated: Nov. 18, 2024, at 4:55 p.m.
Loïe Fuller documentary screening at NGA featuring former GW guest choreographer, Jody Sperling
September 18, 2024
New feature-length documentary film on the iconic choreographer Loïe Fuller entitled 'Obsessed with Light' by filmmakers Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum. Screening at the National Gallery of Art on Oct 6 at 2pm.
