Master of Fine Arts - Fashion Merchandising and Management

The Masters of Fine Art in Fashion Merchandising and Management program provides the in-depth knowledge and specialized skill set required for today’s fashion merchandising and management environment. Graduates will be capable of performing the major functions necessary to run a successful operation including planning, managing, and selling fashion products.

Graduate students will meet the following student performance criteria:

MFA Thesis Project

• Present an original thesis concept worthy of the MFA degree
• Demonstrate the feasibility of their thesis project

Specialty Skills: Fashion Merchandising and Management: Merchandising Thesis

• Research, plan, and write advanced-level project inclusive of a 3-year business plan based on selling product or services

Specialty Skills: Fashion Merchandising and Management

• Projects must include a visual component and/or a prototype
• Gather, analyze and organize relevant data to support their projects
• Analyze case studies/and or project work, demonstrating critical thinking skills
• Make assumptions based on quantifiable research and statistics
• Establish realistic financial goals for a fashion business, retail or wholesale
• Correctly identify key points in the supply chain and demonstrate an understanding of the relationships between its members
• Demonstrate command of visual merchandising presentation for fashion product and services
• Identify trends and determine what merchandise can be developed, marketed and sold

Collaborative Skills

• Collaborate effectively to produce creative projects

Professional Practices

• Create a relevant and original portfolio and collateral materials which can be used to market themselves to the industry

*Note App Fee Waiver in effect for ApplyBoard to reduce the application fee to $50*