Our 2017 rankings of the Top 10 fashion design programs in the Midwest. 

We define the Midwest as Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

Our 2014 list of the Top 75 Fashion Merchandising School Programs in the US. For an explanation of ranking criteria, click here.

1. Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, New York
The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a leader in the worlds of art, design, business and technology. Accredited by the prestigious National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the Council for Interior Design Accreditation, and Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, FIT offers 43 majors leading to Associates, Bachelors, and Master’s degrees. Part of the popular State University of New York (SUNY), FIT was established in 1944 with just 100 students on the top two floors of the High School of Needle Trades.

Michigan is home to 107 Title IV degree-granting institutions. The state’s collection of Title IVs consists of traditional universities, technical schools, art and design schools, and more. Many Michigan schools are considered top-tier by a variety of college ranking agencies, as well as other groups such as alums, education bloggers, student groups, and more. These groups evaluate schools based on affordability, convenience, student clubs and organizations, recreation, student population, job placement services, and other similar factors.

Each year, organizations such as U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review, Forbes, and others evaluate the nation’s colleges to find out which are the best. Some organizations may create a list of the top 20 schools, while others may list the top 50, 100 or more. Most organizations assess each school by evaluating areas such as program offerings, graduation and retention rates, peer assessment, faculty resources (student-teacher ratio), financial resources, and student selectivity.

Each day we receive emails from aspiring fashion designers asking us for advice as to which fashion design schools are the “best” in the US, a given state, or in a particular area of the country.  As such advice is difficult to provide on an individual basis, we have instead created this list of the Top 20 Fashion School Programs in the Midwest. For the record, we define the Midwest as Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. 

At Fashion-Schools.org we have profiled colleges across the US that offer fashion design and fashion merchandising related programs. Below is a list of profiles of Michigan colleges: