Bachelor's · Newport Beach, California
Is Design and Applied Arts at Interior Designers Institute worth it?
Low confidence Low confidence: fewer than 40 graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 7.1 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $46,518
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $72,474
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- Not enough borrowers to report
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $141k (likely $141k – $193k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $33k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 7.1 years (likely 5.4–9.9)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- −$64k (likely −$188k – $62k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $335k (likely $98k – $601k)
- Today's dollars
Change income, residency or loans Compare Design and Applied Arts at other schools
Design and Applied Arts at other schools in California
- University of Southern California$89,022
- Northeastern University Oakland$87,336
- Chapman University$78,121
- Art Center College of Design$76,093
- University of Redlands$75,374
- Laguna College of Art and Design$68,934
- California State University-Long Beach$66,435
- University of California-Santa Cruz$66,333
- University of California-Los Angeles$66,259
- University of California-Davis$62,209