Compiled by PlainCollege, College outcomes data analysis
44
Schools
Bachelor's
Credential Level
$60,912
National Avg Earnings
What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Interior Architecture
Interior Architecture is tracked across 44 U.S. postsecondary institutions in the College Scorecard field-of-study file, which links CIP code classifications from IPEDS to Treasury earnings records. This profile covers the bachelor's credential level specifically, because the Department of Education reports program-level outcomes separately for associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral awards. The CIP (Classification of Instructional Programs) taxonomy lets analysts roll up specialties into broader families, which is why earnings medians across schools can be compared on a common basis.
Across all reporting institutions, the mean of school-level medians is $60,912, calculated from 17 schools with published earnings data. The earnings distribution stretches from $50,266 at the low end to $69,657 at the top, with a 25th-75th percentile band between $58,518 and $64,751 around a median of $61,421. The top-reporting institution in this program is Auburn University at $69,657. These numbers reflect Treasury-derived wages, deferred compensation, and positive self-employment earnings four years after completion for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled.
Variation across schools matters more than a single national figure. Completer counts and earnings cohort counts are distinct source fields, so the displayed completer count should not be assumed to be the earnings denominator. PlainCollege's debt-to-earnings ratio divides median federal debt by annual median earnings as a descriptive comparison; it is not the Department's formal gainful-employment test. Use the school-by-school table to compare reported outcomes while accounting for cohort size, suppression, program mix, and location.
California State University-Sacramento accounts for 12.6% of all Interior Architecture bachelor's credential graduates
That concentration — well above the 5% national median for largest-entity share means Interior Architecture-wide averages can mask meaningful variation outside the largest entity, though the remaining entities individually still carry a share worth reading on their own. That school produced 49 graduates in the most recent cohort, anchoring a meaningful slice of national supply for this field. Even a notable-but-not-dominant share like this is enough to skew a simple Interior Architecture-wide average away from what a typical smaller entity looks like.
Interior Architecture debt-to-earnings ratio is 0.38 — low (typically associated with graduates earn substantially more than they borrowed, which is the College Scorecard standard signal for affordability, a ratio under 0.5 means a year of post-completion earnings would clear half the federal-loan principal)
debt-to-earnings ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: this ratio uses federal loan principal, not all education debt, private loans, parent PLUS loans not in the borrower’s name, and institutional debt are excluded Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Interior Architecture operates only 44 institutions offer this program — among the most consolidated governance structures in the country
Most Interior Architecture institutions offer this program are specialty-program scarcity that concentrates national supply in a small set of institutions, graduates often command stronger employer attention because the talent pool is structurally narrower. Consolidation produces narrower variance because resources pool across larger populations, but it can also mask intra-institutions offer this program inequities — sub-institutions offer this program differences within a single institutions offer this program are not visible at this aggregation level. Consolidated systems typically rely more heavily on top-down funding formulas than on local revenue variability.
Earnings trajectory. For the 14 schools reporting both horizons, median earnings are
49% higher four years after completion than one year
after. That is the same graduates measured twice, not two different groups, so it
describes how pay develops early in the career rather than a difference between schools.
A school missing from this count reports only one horizon.
Awards and earnings come from different reference periods, so they are not a count and an
average of the same people. Awards is the number of credentials the school reported for the
latest IPEDS year; median earnings is measured four years after completion, for a separate
pooled cohort of earlier graduates. A school can therefore report zero awards in the latest
year and still have earnings on record. The earnings figure is not the awards figure’s
average, and the awards count is not the earnings sample size. Schools are ranked on the
four-year earnings figure only, so every row is compared on the same basis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Interior Architecture graduates earn? ▼
Interior Architecture graduates earn $60,912 on average four years after completion, across the 17 of 44 schools that report earnings for this program. Earnings range from $50,266 to $69,657 depending on the institution.
Which school's Interior Architecture graduates earn the most? ▼
Auburn University has the highest reported median earnings for Interior Architecture graduates at $69,657, measured four years after completion in College Scorecard data. This reflects what graduates went on to earn, which depends heavily on who the school admits and which employers recruit there. It is not a figure the school pays.
What credential do you get in Interior Architecture? ▼
Interior Architecture programs typically award a Bachelor's credential. Earnings vary by school and credential level.
Top Schools for Interior Architecture
Closest schools offering this program – compare earnings side by side
Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field of Study file retrieved in March 2026. The program metric displayed here represents federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled four years after credential completion, using Treasury-derived records published through the Scorecard. Completer counts and debt figures come from the same field-of-study snapshot; the Department refreshes components on schedules documented in its changelog, not one fixed annual date.