Many thanks to all of you with your wonderful thoughts and suggestions for Fashion Design Major/minors where a core, broad-based general ed. curriculum is also required.  The numerous responses to my below query follow.  Regards, Cindy

 

NACAC QUERY:  I have a student who would like to study fashion design but also wants to get a general undergraduate degree from a four year institution.  Can you recommend or does anyone have a list of schools that offer fashion design as a major or minor with the ability (or which requires also)  to have a general ed foundation?  She has about a 3.2, regular track (1 AP, 1 Honors class Sr. Year), 1700 SATs.  So far I know of U Cincinnati, UT at Austin and SF State.  Thanks in advance and I would be happy to post results.

 

Cindy Muchnick, M.A.

Educational Consultant

Newport Beach, CA

 

LISTSERV RESPONSES:

 

Try Indiana U which has a great program, U of Delaware, Marist College,

Virginia Commonwealth U., among others.

 

 

Many responses suggest Syracuse

 

Dominican University in River Forest, IL  (comfortable Chicago suburb)

 

Many responses suggest Kent State University in Kent, OH

 

I believe we have something that may interest her at Washington State University.

 

http://academics.wsu.edu/fields/study.asp?ID=A_D

 

Good morning from Otis College of Art and Design. Otis offers one of the strongest Fashion Design programs in the country and about a third of our students' curriculum is composed of general education courses- for instance, everyone takes English Comp, Lit, some form of college algebra, a couple of social sciences and lots of art history. All undergraduates leave Otis with a BFA degree.

Here is a link to our website:www.otis.edu

Radford has a fashion design major and requires all students to complete 50 credits or general education. I’d be happy to provide more details about the program if you wish, but the website has a good deal of information http://www.radford.edu/~id-f/idf.html. If Virginia isn’t too far from home for your student I would be happy to speak with her about it as well.

 

   Check out the University of Rhode Island.  Good School!

 

Safety for her would be Radford Univ in VA, which doesn't advertise their program as they should.  I'd also add Marist in Poughkeepsie, NY in the likely end of the midlist.

 

Please put us on the list.  Your student may qualify for our out-of-state tuition waiver<http://admissions.louisiana.edu/scholarships/out_of_state.shtml>. 

 

She may want to look at FIT (Fashion Institute of Techonology, a CUNY school, University of Rhode Island, U-Delaware, Marymount University of Fordham University, University of Philadelphia, Drexel.  Those are just a few off the top of my head.

 

What about FIT?  It’s a branch of SUNY and offers four year degrees as well as associate degrees.  And if not, there are plenty of colleges in NYC where she could supplement her work at FIT.  AG

 

Iowa State University, U Delaware

 

You might look at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, TX and Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX.

 

 

Please check out SUNY Oneonta.  They have 3 + 1 program with Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC.

 

Also, Marist College (NY) has a 4 year Fashion Design/Merchandising Program.

 

Also, FIT has its own 4 year Fashion Design Program.

 

 

The College Board Book of Majors has a page of schools listed for Fashion Design.  Many of those listed are four-year institutions where general ed is available.

 

The place to go for this kind of information is the College Blue Book, vol 3, or to Orchard House or Peterson's Guides to majors.

 

We offer a four-year BS in Fashion Design.  This program combines design with a core of liberal arts courses.

 

Check us out on the web www.PhilaU.edu.

 

I’m responding to your message sent across the NACAC E-list. Here at Dominican University we require a liberal arts and sciences core curriculum and a fashion design major. Having one of the world’s greatest urban regions at our doorstep – Chicago – allows for our students many internship opportunities.

 

I suggest having your student visit our prospective freshman website at www.ican.dom.edu, and, also, cut and paste this link to our fashion department website.

 

http://domin.dom.edu/faculty/fashion/index_content.html

 

Brenau University has a program.  I will have the program director contact you.

Brenau University
500 Washington Street, SE
Gainesville, GA 30501
phone: 770/718-5320
fax:  770/538-4701

 

Try University of LA at Layfette, Woodbury, CA, Auburn, FSU, U of GA

 

Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA) has a degree in Apparel Design.  They have a Gen Ed core.  http://www.ahrm.vt.edu/ct/index.html.

 

 

http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/majors/100726.html
http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/careers/105101.html

Colleges I would investigate are Stephens in MO, Marymount in VA, Virginia Commonwealth in VA, Fashion Inst. of America in NY (part of the SUNY), Kent State in Ohio, Syracuse in NY.  Beware of private schools that are not colleges and promise jobs in fashion.  There are other colleges, but this would give you a start.  Pam Little, Fayetteville Academy, NC

University of Cincinnati has a great fashion design program with a coop program.  Here are two links:  http://www.uc.edu/programs/viewprog.asp?progid=2193
http://www.uc.edu/programs/viewprog.asp?progid=2188
The College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati is an excellent program - it's also a co-op program. It's very competitive, but I've had students accepted into fashion who are not outstanding students - not so for architecture and some of the other design options (interior, graphic, industrial).  Students applying to this program need to do so by October - it's rolling admissions and they reach capacity very early.
We have a fantastic fashion design program at the University of Cincinnati
within our school of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP).   There
are two tracts: Design Track and the Product Development Track.  The link
below will take you to the design website.
http://www.daap.uc.edu/programs/design.php
It is also important to note that the admissions standards for DAAP are
pretty high.  They are going to look for high test scores and a strong gpa
from a college prep program.

I think you would find it interesting to look in some different university course books under fashion design.  Some are in art schools, some are in the old "home ec." types of schools and some are in marketing.  The actual major differs a lot based on where they are housed.  You might look at Kansas University and the University of
Nebraska -- also Iowa State.  All good programs but very different.  You might ask your student what she wants to do within the industry and where her talents lie.  I have students every year who are interested in this field and they end up totally different places based on the answers to these questions.

Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a Research Doctoral- Extensive
University, (same classification as Texas A&M, Texas Tech, U of
Houston, U of North Texas, U of Texas at Arlington and U of Texas at
Austin)  has an undergraduate program in Fashion Design.  See below:
http://www.siu.edu/~arc_id/fashion.htm


Certainly The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York ought to be looked at.  It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY).  Also, the State University of New York at Oneonta has a 3 +1 program with FIT.  Your student could get the liberal arts and then fashion design.

If she is willing to go to the Northeast, Univ. of Rhode Island has a good program.

You may want to suggest that your student look at our fashion merchandising & design program:

http://www.albright.edu/catalog/fashion.html

Albright College is a small liberal arts college in eastern Pennsylvania.  If you or she has any questions, please feel free to contact me.

The only schools I know of are FIT (NY), LIM (NY) and University of Bridgeport (CT), but I believe Bridgeport may be Fashion merchandising instead of Design. The school she is interested in is St. Martin's in London.

She doesn't really need any prior training for many schools, just the art schools can be tricky.  In the course she will need to sew and illustrate, so any previous experience will be incredibly beneficial.  I personally found it very helpful to already follow designers and be able to recognize their styles from sight prior to my studies.  Of course there are the obvious choices of Fashion Institute of Technology, Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design.  I personally attended Marymount University in Virginia and they had an excellent fashion design and also a fashion merchandising program.  I also believe that Eugene Lang College, SUNY at Buffalo, Syracuse U, Kent State and U of Wisconsin Madison have programs.  In Texas, you might want to check out Baylor, U of the Incarnate Word, Texas Tech U, U of North Texas and Wade College.

Pratt Institute and Parson's School of Design, both in NY, NY have well respected undergrad programs.  Also, Savannah College of Art and Design has campuses in Savannah and Atlanta, GA...if you have parents gunshy about sending an 18 year old to NY. 

Have your student look at Florida State University, Lynn University (FL), Savannah College of Art and Design, Syracuse, Iowa State, Bowling Green State, and Baylor.

Here at the Savannah College of Art and Design we offer the b.f.a., m.a. and m.f.a. in fashion. Our degree program includes general education/liberal arts courses, foundation art courses, and fashion courses. Our website is www.scad.edu, and the link to the fashion page directly is http://www.scad.edu/academic/majors/fash/index.html .
 
We also have a five-week summer program called Rising Star, which awards college credit to rising high school seniors. Each student is enrolled in two college level classes. The Rising Star link is http://www.scad.edu/admission/summer_programs/rising_star/ . Currently there are two fashion courses being offered, Sewing Technology and Introduction to Textiles.

Iowa State University offers a very well-respected degree in Apparel Merchandising, Design, and Production.

Cornell University's College of Human Ecology has a Textiles and Apparel major (see: http://www.humec.cornell.edu/units/txa/).

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a great program in Textile and Apparel Design that allows students to spend a year in NYC at the Fashion Institute.  Your student would also get a great liberal arts education in Madison.
http://www.sohe.wisc.edu/secondTier.asp?ExtCat=4025&ExtCat;2=4043&TopImg;=programs.gif

. Try Texas Tech!!

Colorado State: We offer a major in Apparel & Merchandising.  This is an outstanding program and is ideal for students who are interested in a career in fashion design.  For more information, please visit http://www.cahs.colostate.edu/dm/ammajor/amintro.htm.  

You might take a look at Stephens College in Fulton, MO.  They have a really great fashion program, as well as a good, solid liberal arts education.  It's all female, but the girls who attend bond well and seem to enjoy it !
  
Columbia College of Chicago

Lasell College (MA)
I am not a big proponent of self-serving replies on the e-list, but Lasell College offers 2 Undergraduate Programs dealing with the fields of Fashion:

•       Fashion Design and Production

 •      Fashion and Retail Merchandising
 Lasell is a small college which blends the Liberal Arts and Pre-Professional areas of study.  If your student is looking to be just outside of a major city, we are located 8 miles west of Boston and about 3 hours north of New York City.
If you are interested, please take a look at our web-site or contact me directly for more information.
www.lasell.edu
jtweed@lasell.edu


The University of Delaware's major in Apparel Design is a great (and
highly competitive) program:
Apparel Design
. . . the conceptualization, design and pre-production of products for
apparel-related industries.  Students research and analyze trends,
evaluate consumer markets, use technology to conceptualize, design and
produce apparel products, and prepare promotional presentations.  A
fully equipped computer-aided design (CAD) facility with professional
design software is used extensively throughout the curriculum. Both
Apparel Design and Fashion Merchandising students can study in Europe
and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. The
opportunity to double-major in Fashion Merchandising is an option for
all majors.
General information about the University of Delaware:
www.udel.edu/viewbook. The degree requirements for the major are listed
in our catalog:
http://udcatalog.udel.edu/humanservices/undergrad/CHEPUgPDF/CHEPUgCNST.pdf


Drexel
 
We offer a BS in Fashion Design at Philadelphia University.  Information can be found at www.PhilaU.edu.

Woddbury University in Burbank, California

Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandizing - Costa Mesa California


Marist College                         New York

FIDM                                      (a few campuses in California)

We actually have a fantastic fashion design program here at Phialdelphia University as well as fashion merchandising, fashion industry management and textile design.  We've been a textile school since 1884 and one of the things that makes our program unique is that we do not require a portfolio for admission.  If a student is coming to us without experience we can start them off with Design I and Drawing I and the student will be able to finish the program successfully in four years time.  Any students coming in with a portfolio may meet with their advisor for a portfolio review to see if they can be waived out of any classes, but the admission decision will still be based on the grade point, SAT or ACT and optional essay and recommendations.  (I strongly encourage everyone to send these to us, it helps us get to know the student and not just the numbers).  I hope this is helpful and please feel free to pass my information on to your student or contact me yourself at any time!  Our website also has lots of information at www.PhilaU.edu.  Have a great day!


There aren't many 4 year programs in fashion design that I've found, but one such program is at Woodbury University in Burbank, California. It's a nice little school with limited majors, and their biggest programs are in fashion, architecture, and business. She might want to check it out.

I'd suggest that the student begin taking visual arts courses, if she is
not already doing so. Many of the visual arts college offer summer
pre-college programs where your student can explore fashion design. For
a listing of visual arts colleges and their programs visit www.
NPDA.org. California College of the Arts offers pre-college with a
concentration in fashion design. Most of the visual arts colleges offer
regionally accredited liberal arts courses along side of the studio
curriculum.

Radford University in Virginia.  

Large publics with specific programs include Univ of Georgia and Univ of Delaware. (Highly selective major at large publics, because they admit so few.)

 

Check out Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

The only Fashion degree in the country and has a wonderful reputation.

http://www.ryerson.ca/ualca/programs/fashion.html

 

The price is right for American students, and it's in Canadian dollars?

 

Marymount University in Arlington,VA does as well.

Syracuse U. has a good program, but it might be a "reach" school for her. Lasell College in Boston (well, just outside) would take her in a minute. See http://www.lasell.edu/

 

 

 

Cindy Muchnick, M.A.

Educational Consultant

Newport Beach, CA

949-644-4145