Fashion-Design School (2024)

by Scott Miller Last updated Aug. 13, 2020

Fashion-design schools provide an associate’s degree that lasts for two years and a bachelor’s degree that lasts for four years.

Some fashion-design schools offer in advance a master’s degree in fashion design which could be completed within an additional two years.

The different careers include fashion designer and textile designer, pattern maker and fashion merchandiser, product developer, and fashion journalist, as well as style forecaster.

Typical Costs

The fees for the fashion-design school usually vary from $4,000 to $28,000 annually for tuition, fees, and materials, and the prices get higher for non-residents attending a state school.

The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, for example, is a public college that secures associate’s degrees for about $4,000 annually for residents and $12,000 annually for non-residents.

Popular Programs

Here the bachelor’s degrees is approx. $5,100 annually for residents, and $13,500 annually for non-residents.

At the same time, the bachelor’s degree from the Art Institutes, a private college with campuses nationwide, is at the average $22,974 per year including all tuition and fees.

A fashion design graduate degree usually costs $8,000-$30,000 annually.

A Domus Academy in Milan master’s in fashion design, for example, can be completed in one year; and the tuition costs are about $26,600.

At the same time, aSchool for Design Parsons in New York City master’s degree in fashion reaches $19,890 for one semester for tuition and fees, and a price of an $80,000 for a two-year program.

What Is Included

• Getting a fashion-design degree means covering 60-100 credits, and the coursework includesmenswear design, merchandising and marketing, as well as the history of fashion and sportswear design.
• The classroom instruction is backed-up by hands-on learning.
• Fashion-design internship is also possible.
• Many schools accept fashion-design technology now as a standard part of their curriculum.
• The students’ education is enriched with computer graphics, storyboards, and visual presentations.
• Certain schools are focused on a specific type of fashion design – for example, the Footwear Design program at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in California.

Additional Costs

The costs of accommodation and food range between $7,000-$20,000 annually.

The tuition and board for the first-year students attending the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio cost $7,260-$9,000 annually for the first-year students.

Needless to day, the housing costs in the large urban settlements such as New York and Los Angeles are much higher than those considered as the national average.

Fashion design students pay $1,000-$2,500 for books and materials.

According to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, for instance, one student needs $1,638 annually for materials and supplies.

According to Parsons School for Design the sum for those supplies is between $920 and $2,050 per year.

The O’More College of Design in Franklin, TN requires a laptop and a sewing machine which is an additional one-time expense of $2,200.

It should be noted that commercial-grade sewing machines and sergers can be $200-$2,000 and even more.

The fashion design school usually possess machines and students can use them while in class, a sewing machine should be purchased to work at home on the projects.

If a student wants to buy a Janome Heavy Duty Sewing Machine featuring 14 stitches, one should pay $300.

The fashion design students also need insurance, which can add an extra $800-$2,000 annually.

The health insurance at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, for instance, is $800 per year; and at Fisher College in Boston, the health insurance is $1,650 per year.

Discounts

Students with a high GPA or a proven financial need are eligible for scholarships.

Several scholarships to students at the fashion design program are offered by the Art Institutes.

Qualified students across the country can take advantage of the scholarships from The YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund.

Shopping For Fashion-Design School

• The most important things to do when applying to art and design schools institutes are presented by The National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
• The association further keeps a list of the accredited design schools.
• A searchable database of accredited schools is provided by The Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
• The non-profit organization College Board presents questions to ask before placing documents to a fashion design school.