Since its founding in 1970, the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) has been at the forefront of shaping excellence in interior design education. Over more than five decades, CIDA has grown alongside — and often ahead of — global shifts in design, education, and culture.

The 1970s marked the beginning of CIDA’s journey, then known as the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER).

In the 1980s, as design culture embraced innovation and technology, FIDER focused on structure—formalizing accreditation and defining excellence in interior design education.

As global connectivity surged in the 1990s, CIDA (then FIDER) expanded its reach and refined its standards. It was a decade of stronger networks, evolving accreditation, and design programs preparing students for an increasingly connected world.