The Maryland Institute College of Art cannot add a new interior design program, the Maryland Higher Education Commission ruled, because it is too similar to one offered at Morgan State University.

The decision last week was a blow to the arts college, whose leaders argued in a hearing that the new program was a “fundamental element” of the school’s financial plan. MICA has faced a number of financial challenges in recent years, and has seen declining enrollment since the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was expected to help it bounce back.

Morgan State has often clashed with colleges over course duplication, which was prohibited after historically Black colleges in Maryland settled a lawsuit with the state in 2021. Maryland had underfunded its HBCUs, the lawsuit alleged, and allowed other colleges to replicate their programs, hindering their ability to attract students. The state higher education commission must now consider whether new, competing programs at predominantly white institutions would harm those at HBCUs.

In the last few years, the commission has rejected proposals from Towson, Johns Hopkins and Stevenson universities following objections from Morgan State and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, another HBCU.

MICA is “hampered” in its curriculum offerings without the interior design program, and the commission’s decision will cause the college “financial harm,” said Raymond Barclay, the school’s vice president of enrollment management.

The art school’s proposed program was recommended by a number of alumni, according to Barclay, who estimated there could be 1,400 job openings in the field in the coming decade. Morgan State’s program currently graduates only about 20 students each year.

Barclay said there could be room in the state for “three to four” interior design programs, arguing that the program at Morgan State was different from MICA’s proposal because it is in the HBCU’s architecture school, with close proximity to construction management. MICA’s program would be centered on an arts education, leaders argued.

MICA used to have an interior design program, according to Barclay, that “evolved” into interior architecture, then environmental design and then architectural design, over the course of a few decades. He added that the college was “trying to recapture” the original program.

Sanjay Rai, secretary of the state’s higher education commission, ruled in March that MICA could not create the program. The college appealed the decision last month, and though the commission voted 5-3 in favor of MICA, the art school needed seven votes to overturn Rai’s decision.

Suzanne Frasier, an associate professor of architecture at Morgan State, told the commission that the HBCU’s interior design program has “experienced exponential growth” since it was created in 2018, with enrollment growing an average of 18% each year.

“Morgan State University is the optimal source for this professional interior design degree,” Frasier argued, warning that an additional design program in the area could slow the momentum at Morgan State.

The program will be visited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation this coming fall, and Frasier said that faculty were “confident” that the program would earn its national accreditation by spring 2026.

Staff at the Maryland Higher Education Commission also argued in favor of Morgan State and Secretary Rai’s previous decision.

“We don’t think that the proposal, as it stands right now, is distinct enough to justify a second program here in Maryland,” said Emily Dow, the commission’s assistant secretary for academic affairs.

“Morgan’s expectation is to grow,” Dow continued. “We want to give Morgan the opportunity to recruit and expand.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.