Post-Graduate Employment Rate: In 2024, 10 people graduated.

As of July 2024, 3 of 10 are fully employed in design professions (30%), and 7 are in graduate school (70%) studying architecture, historic preservation, theater-design, design, and product design.

Acceptance into Graduate Programs: 70% of our 2024 graduates achieved 100% acceptance in at least one program as of April 2024. Several alumni from the class of 2023 also applied to graduate schools with excellent results. In the last four years, our students have been accepted to Yale University, Harvard University, Cornell University, Columbia University, and NYU, among other graduate schools.

Awards:

Our students have won many prestigious honors, including 14 national Angelo Donghia Foundation scholarships worth $30,000 each (in 19 years of the competition), Hospitality Design Magazine national student awards (1st place, 2nd place, and finalist positions), international awards from IFI Design Distinction Awards, and many Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) Student Awards. In 2023, two of our students won prestigious national awards - the John V. Nelson Memorial Scholarship (speaking opportunity also on the national stage at NEOCON in Chicago) and the Gensler Brinkman Scholarship in 2023. In 2024, our SVA student was one of three nationwide (with no others from the NY State) to win ASID’s prestigious portfolio competition.

Of particular note, SVA students won three places in 2022 and two places in 2024 in Metropolis Magazine's Future 100 competition, which selects approximately 25 undergraduate interior design students from the entire USA. Among schools in the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design in the USA, SVA dominated the national Future 100 competition. In New York State, only two schools had three winners in 2022. In 2024, SVA was the only undergraduate interior design school in the New York Metro area with any winners.

Metropolis Magazine comments (April 1, 2022 and Summer 2024):

"Highlights of Geng's portfolio include a low-carbon micro apartment and an audio sculpture that makes music as the wind passes through tensioned cables."

"From a sustainable urban living solution to a restorative justice project, Ahdut seeks to create healthier communities and drive change through her designs."

"Through two projects that center the needs and experiences of formerly incarcerated individuals, Li's work displays a dedication to ecological and restorative justice."

“In her project Hydroasis, Xu reimagined Manhattan’s postindustrial Chelsea neighborhood as a water-efficient urban utopia, with buildings outfitted with hydroponic stairs and water-screened elevators… [She] believes that design should enhance one’s quality of life.”

Exhibition and Publication Opportunities:

Each student will get the opportunity to be in local (NYC Flatiron Gallery), national (ICFF), and international (ECC Venice Biennale) exhibitions. Each student leaves with a CV rich with exhibition and publication experience (in-house publications, Dezeen, competition publications) that puts them ahead for employment or for graduate school admission at top schools.

Venice Biennale 2023 and beyond: Twelve students had work displayed in Palazzo Bembo on the Grand Canal next to world-class architects and architecture firms, including being published in the ECC publication. We hope to give every student an opportunity to exhibit and have work published in this international competition after their junior year. The competition runs every other year. The Biennale also coincides with an SVA Destinations Tour (3-credit elective) in Italy conducted by three of our instructors.

Graduation Rates: 100% of the Class of 2024 graduated in 4 years.

Retention/Attrition: 95% of students enrolled during the Fall 2022 semester returned in Fall 2023, putting attrition at 5%.

DesignIntelligence 2019 ranking: Fourth "Most Hired from Interior Design School" (based on average number of graduates)

Architectural Digest PRO, “Interior Design School Worth applying to”

December 16, 2021, reported:

"SVA's interior design program lays the foundation for a long career ahead. From the first day of school, students will have access to their own desk and an immaculate computer lab, mimicking the dynamics of a design firm…SVA also gives its students the opportunity to present their work to an assortment of internationally acclaimed designers…offering major networking potential."

December 1, 2023, reported:

“SVA boasts a 1:2 teacher-to-student ratio…SVA’s interior design degree also meets all of the requirements to sit for the NCIDQ exam.”

SVA BFA Interior Design: Built Environments graduates from years past have been employed in interior design and architecture firms as designers. Numerous graduates are in leadership positions, and many have their own firms.

Companies that have hired SVA ID:BE graduates: