Arizona·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-1022

Best Fashion Designer programs in Arizona, ranked by enrollment

Design clothing and accessories.

3 schools in Arizona run programs that feed this job, graduating 105 people a year. The job pays a median of $45,720 in Arizona across about jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDesignerApparel DesignerCostume DesignerFashion DesignerStylistCostumerFur StylistFur Designer
Graduates / yr
105
in Arizona
Median pay · Arizona
$45,720
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
people employed
Schools
3
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
33%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Arizona that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Arizona that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Arizona (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Arizona page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 50.0407In Arizona
99
94.3%
3$31,611$26,000
2
CIP 50.0510In Arizona
6
5.7%
2$20,667$24,994

Top 3 schools in Arizona

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 3 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Arizona State University Campus Immersion
Tempe, AZ Public · 1 feeder programs
78Fashion/Apparel Design$35,96068%90%
2Phoenix College
Phoenix, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
14Fashion/Apparel Design14%
3Mesa Community College
Mesa, AZ Public · 2 feeder programs
13Fashion/Apparel Design16%

All 3 schools in Arizona

Every school in Arizona with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Arizona that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempePublic781
Phoenix CollegePhoenixPublic142
Mesa Community CollegeMesaPublic132

What fashion designers earn in Arizona

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Arizona
$45,720
Mean annual
$48,700
Jobs in state
What the range looks like
10th pct$38,830Median$45,72090th pct$61,650
Versus the national median
-43.5%

U.S. median $80,960. Arizona pays below the national figure.

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+2.0%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
2,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
500
25,700 → 26,200
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Fashion Designers page.

How to become a Fashion Designer

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingSpeakingActive LearningReading ComprehensionMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Arizona

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Fashion Designers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 19.0902Apparel and Textile Manufacture
  • 19.0904Textile Science
  • 19.0906Fashion and Fabric Consultant
  • 50.0407Fashion/Apparel Design
  • 50.0510Costume Design

Common questions

Answers for people weighing fashion designers programs in Arizona.

What degree do you need to become a Fashion Designer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Fashion/Apparel Design, which awarded 99 degrees in Arizona in 2024-25, 94.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Fashion Designer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 105 people a year in Arizona.

How much do fashion designers earn in Arizona?+

The median is $45,720 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 43.5% below the U.S. median of $80,960. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for fashion designers growing?+

BLS projects a +2.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Arizona?+

3 institutions in Arizona reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do fashion designers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Designer, Apparel Designer, Costume Designer, Fashion Designer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1022.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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