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Fashion Design, MFA

60 credit hours

Admission Requirements

  • Fulfillment of requirements for general admission to the University.
  • Successful completion of a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design or Studio Art degree. Students of exceptional merit, who have earned a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in Studio Art or Fashion Design (or the equivalent), will also be considered contingent upon faculty approval. Students without either a Bachelor of Fine Arts or Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art or Fashion Design who have significant studio art experience must request a special review.
  • Submission of a portfolio of the applicant’s creative work for review by the art and design faculty. The portfolio should consist of a minimum of twenty works presented in high resolution digital format.
  • A two-page essay indicating goals and expectations for graduate school.
  • Three letters of recommendation from professionals who can speak to the candidate’s academic prowess and serious intent.
  • Conditional admission to the graduate program in fashion design, based on the evaluation of undergraduate preparation or determined at the time of the portfolio review, requires the successful completion of specified coursework prior to full admittance to the graduate program. Undergraduate credit will be awarded for courses completed during the conditional status and is not applicable toward the graduate degree.
  • Full admission to the graduate program in fashion design requires the endorsement of the art and design faculty involved in the candidate’s portfolio review.
  • Candidacy is conditional until full candidacy is recommended by the art and design faculty after the mid-program review (27 credits).

Admission Deadlines

  • All application materials for fall admission must be received by the previous April 1.
  • All application materials for spring admission must be received by the previous November 1.

Degree Requirements

  • Satisfactory completion of an oral review and defense after twenty-seven credits. The oral review and defense is presented to the student's thesis committee, which must consist of three art and design faculty members. Each student is responsible for inviting faculty to serve on his or her committee and for inviting one of the committee members to serve as the chair.
  • Satisfactory completion of an oral review and defense of the graduate exhibit and thesis conducted by the student’s thesis committee, which must consist of the same three art and design faculty members who conducted the oral review and defense after twenty-seven credits. Exceptions may be granted by the Art and Design Department chairperson.
  • Presentation of recent work at two scheduled graduate critiques each semester the student is enrolled.
  • Completion of graduate studies with a minimum grade point average of 3.0.
  • At least fifty percent of the degree must be completed in stand-alone graduate courses.
  • Forty-eight hours of credit must be earned in regularly scheduled classes unless special arrangements are approved by the Art and Design Department chairperson.
  • No more than nine hours of approved transfer credit at the graduate level may be included in meeting the degree requirement of sixty hours.
  • All graduate students in fashion design must surrender one work approved by the faculty from their thesis exhibition.

Degree Requirements

Required courses

48 credit hours
ART 50010Research Studies I: Methods in Art and Design

3
ART 50020Research Studies II: Seminar in Art and Design

3
ART 50030Research Studies III: Theories in Art and Design

3
FD 50000Studio I

3
FD 51000Studio II

3
FD 51300Advanced CAD I: Apparel Design

3
FD 51600Fashion Illustration

3
FD 52000Studio III

3
FD 53000Studio IV

3
FD 55000Final Collection I

3
FD 55100Advanced CAD II: Textile Design

3
FD 55200Advanced CAD III: Patternmaking

3
FD 55300Advanced CAD IV: Technical Design

3
FD 55500Professional Portfolio Design

3
FD 56000Final Collection II

3
FD 56500Fashion Internship

3

12 credit hours selected from the following courses:

FD 56600Fashion Teaching Internship

3
FD 57110Advanced Textile Science

3
FD 57200History of Costume to 1900

3
FD 57300History of Costume from 1900

3
FD 58500Fashion Business and Entrepreneurship

3
Note. Substitutions may be granted with approval from the Art and Design Department Chairperson.