Fashion Design: 4 Best Colleges & Universities in the US
Have you applied to your dream college yet? Are you going to? Or would you rather take a gap year? Whatever you choose, it’s important to research your options very well before making such a big decision like which college to apply to.
This is not meant to put any more pressure on you, of course. You can change your major and even your whole program as you go. But it will cause you some trouble like bridging the gap and making new connections mid-year.
Fashion design is booming right now. The world is stressed, which means that art is at its peak. Every other designer’s collection out there is outstanding and a piece of art by itself.
Do you want to join the great names and change the fashion scene without going to study in Antwerpen? The good news is that the schools inside the US are not half bad. In fact, they are terrific, with many more than six+ famous alumni.
Fashion Institute of Technology
This school offers a wide variety of programs allowing students to not only focus on fashion as it is but also explore marketing, photography as well as technical and interior design. The list of programs is wide.
The institute’s site claims the staff and the school as a community promoting creativity, inclusivity, and leadership and striving for sustainability. They encourage students to grow and innovate while also creating a community of like-minded individuals willing to build a personal brand.
Living on campus will put you in the heart of New York City at a cost that starts at $5,342.50 per semester. The double dorm room is quite spacious and has a lot of light. ‘This is a perfect place to write my papers’, you may say once you see the desk by the window. Tuition here costs $5,168 for NYC residents, and $13,550 for out-of-state residents.
Some of the famous alumni of this school are Ralph Rucci, Nina Garcia, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Carolina Herrera, and Nanette Lepore.
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
This is a much smaller private school with under 2,000 students, yet a highly acclaimed one. Rhode Island School of Design is one of the first art & design schools in the US. Apart from apparel design, you can study ceramics, architecture, jewelry + metalsmithing and photography here.
RISD community stands for hands-on learning. So, if you can’t imagine yourself without experimenting and exploring new things, this is a place to go.
Tuition here will cost you $39,000. Another benefit is that you can cross-register for classes at Brown free of charge. Many students take advantage of this collaboration by taking math, science and foreign language classes at Brown while attending RISD for studio work to explore their creative potential.
Since 2010, RISD students have been showing their collections at New York Fashion Week. So, if this is something that interests you, you should definitely consider applying.Don’t be afraid of the huge workload. You can always find a reliable essay writer helper on EssayHub or some other essay service. No need to let the boring stuff get you down.
Parsons School of Design | The New School (New York)
According to QS World Rankings, 2021, this is the number one among design schools. Parsons New School also has a branch in Paris. It offers a total of 37 programs in both cities. During the first year, all students share the same program meant to help them learn the basics, explore their creativity and guide them towards choosing what to major in.
The first two semesters will teach you all that you need to know to get started including drawing, digital design, and liberal arts. You will also learn about the tools and methods used in creative work.
As for the following years, you can choose one of the many programs offered by the school:
- Fashion Design
- Architectural Design
- Product Design
- Fine Arts
- Design History & Practice
- Communication Design
- And others
The tuition will cost you about $38,000.
Another thing that might allure many young creators to join this community is that a lot of the alumni that have earned a name for themselves have stayed to teach at the school. So, if you’d like to learn from Anna Sui, Donna Karan, and Evan Ross, this is the school to apply to this summer.
Kent State University
Kent State is the only public university in Northeast Ohio that is considered prestigious. Although this school is not entirely dedicated to arts, it still has a decent number of art programs ranging from Dance, Digital Media and Art History to Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising, and Theatre Design, Technology and Production.
In terms of student life, you will definitely not get bored here. The College of the Arts offers many events and student-run exhibitions. There are more than 400 student organizations at the KSU. They also hold an annual fashion show, which for this season was presented online.
School of Fashion also has an entire fashion-dedicated library, TechStyleLabб and a KnitLab for you to explore the ins and outs of fabric and knitwear production.
The university is consistently ranked high in worldwide and nationwide ratings, being the number one school for fashion merchandising. At the same time, tuition here is lower compared to most of the colleges and universities listed above. If you’re an Ohio resident, it will cost you $9,030; and for a non-Ohio resident, the price is $16,900.
Wrapping Up
Choosing to study fashion is not an easy path to take. It will take pushing your creativity to the max and always experimenting with new materials, designs and forms. But in the end, if you put enough work into it, you can become the new name in fashion.
Whichever you choose, the schools above are some of the best places to study fashion, design, and arts in the US. And don’t forget about the valuable network that you will have by the time you graduate!
##
