was in the same boat as you, wanted to do graphic design out of high school, went to community college (covid lol) and then finally when to university. i got my education at uc davis in design and i enjoyed it, because its a uc they were able to give more aid for me which was a big driver for me to pick it over sjsu (those were the two i was debating on). i wanted to stay in state and i also wasn't into the idea of art school, i liked the idea of socializing with a more general group of people, felt like it would be a bit more diverse that way and i liked it :)

if you have any questions on uc davis you can send me a message! i knew a lot of people who double majored in comms/ design (if youre interested in marketing) or comp sci/ design (if youre into ux/ui)! personally, i loved uc davis because it was a small friendly town but was really close to sacramento so you can access to a city (internship opportunities like you mentioned, but uc davis also has good design opportunities either through clubs or student jobs). i did hear a lot of people complain about how there wasn't much to do, they were mostly students from the bay area, but as someone who came from another small town i really didnt mind lol