Curriculum

Our comprehensive core courses provide a holistic knowledge of the merchandising and marketing aspects of the fashion industry, while the career-focused specializations provide you with the opportunity to customize your skill-set and academic experience.

Based on your career goals, and with the guidance of faculty advisors and career services, you can select a career-driven specialization (detailed below the curriculm) to customize your experience.

A specialization is a set of three courses that allow you to explore a specialized area of the industry. With this approach, core classes and specializations work together to build a curriculum informed by the multifaceted fashion industry, creating a dynamic approach to career-driven education.

First Year

  • Pathways Seminar
  • Written Communication
  • Debating U.S. Issues
  • Multimedia Communication
  • Mathematics
  • Process: Integrative Design Process
  • Macroeconomics
  • Financial Accounting
  • Managerial Accounting
  • Principles of Marketing
  • Global Fashion Insight

Second Year

  • Ethics
  • Global Diversity
  • Science (Select one DECSYS)
  • Business Models
  • Introduction to Statistics
  • Microeconomics
  • Principles of Management
  • Applied Business Statistics
  • Retail Strategy and Structure Structure
  • Survey of Textile Industry

Third Year

  • American Diversity
  • Global citizenship
  • Debating Global Issues
  • Integrative Seminar: Ethnographic Research Methods
  • Business Law
  • Financial Management
  • Management Information Systems
  • Design Concepts for Fashion
  • Introduction to Digital Imaging
  • Specialization (3 credits)

Fourth Year

  • Capstone Folio Workshop
  • Business Capstone I
  • Business Capstone II
  • Operations and Supply Chain Management
  • Seminar: Textile/ Apparel Industry Issues
  • Specializations (6 credits)
  • Free Electives/ Internship (12 credits)

Specializations

Students select one based on Career Pathway.

Students will be able to develop a merchandising plan that includes planning sales, stock levels, stock turn, reductions and a budget.

Career Pathways

  • Allocator
  • Assistant Buyer
  • Business Analyst
  • Digital Merchandiser
  • Merchandise Trainee
  • Planning Analyst
  • Retail Analyst
  • Visual Merchandiser

Courses

  • Merchandise Buying/Operations
  • Product Development & Innovation
  • Visual Merchandising

Students will be able to execute a global brand marketing strategy.

Career Pathways

  • Brand Manager
  • Fashion Editor/ Writer (Fashion Journalism course offered as free elective)
  • Licensing Analyst
  • Marketing Communications Manager
  • Product Manager
  • Public Relations Manager
  • Retail Analyst
  • Social Media Analyst
  • Sourcing Manager
  • Trend Forecaster

Courses

  • Contemporary Brand Management
  • Apparel Merchandising Management
  • Business Licensing

Students will learn how all pieces of the fashion value chain interact, and how to maximize opportunities in the industry.

Career Pathways

  • Allocator
  • Distribution Analyst
  • Fabric & Trim Specialist
  • Logistics Manager
  • Merchandiser
  • Product Development Manager
  • Production Manager
  • Quality Assurance Specialist
  • Retail Analyst
  • Sourcing Manager
  • Textile Technologist

Courses

  • Prototyping
  • Integrated Technology
  • Value Chain Innovation