Best Fashion Designer programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Design clothing and accessories.
25 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 414 people a year. The job pays a median of — in California across about 6,470 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (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 California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0407In California → | 349 | 84.3% | 24 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 19.0902In California → | 47 | 11.4% | 8 | $36,635 | $24,750 |
| 3 | CIP 19.0906In California → | 14 | 3.4% | 1 | $36,635 | $24,750 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0510In California → | 4 | 1.0% | 1 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 25 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA Private for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 66 | Fashion/Apparel Design | $20,829 | 34% | $40,294 | — |
| 2 | Los Angeles Trade Technical College Los Angeles, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 48 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 35% | — | — |
| 3 | Orange Coast College Costa Mesa, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 35 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 48% | — | — |
| 4 | Otis College of Art and Design Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Fashion/Apparel Design | $31,172 | 66% | $44,867 | 82% |
| 5 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 36% | — | — |
| 6 | Palomar College San Marcos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 38% | — | — |
| 7 | College of Alameda Alameda, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 33% | — | — |
| 8 | Mt San Antonio College Walnut, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 45% | — | — |
| 9 | West Valley College Saratoga, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 51% | — | — |
| 10 | Chaffey College Rancho Cucamonga, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 36% | — | — |
| 11 | San Diego Mesa College San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 35% | — | — |
| 12 | College of the Sequoias Visalia, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 39% | — | — |
| 13 | Santa Rosa Junior College Santa Rosa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 37% | — | — |
| 14 | City College of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 40% | — | — |
| 15 | Saddleback College Mission Viejo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 48% | — | — |
| 16 | Canada College Redwood City, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 47% | — | — |
| 17 | Long Beach City College Long Beach, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 8 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 30% | — | — |
| 18 | American River College Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 37% | — | — |
| 19 | California College of the Arts San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Fashion/Apparel Design | $28,673 | 61% | $40,041 | 91% |
| 20 | San Joaquin Delta College Stockton, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 35% | — | — |
| 21 | Sacramento City College Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Apparel and Textile Manufacture | — | 33% | — | — |
| 22 | El Camino Community College District Torrance, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 42% | — | — |
| 23 | Sierra College Rocklin, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 42% | — | — |
| 24 | Santa Ana College Santa Ana, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 31% | — | — |
| 25 | Woodbury University Burbank, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Fashion/Apparel Design | $32,175 | 60% | $28,493 | 82% |
All 25 schools in California
Every school in California 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.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy of Art University | San Francisco | Private for-profit | 66 | 4 |
| Los Angeles Trade Technical College | Los Angeles | Public | 48 | 2 |
| Orange Coast College | Costa Mesa | Public | 35 | 2 |
| Otis College of Art and Design | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 1 |
| Santa Monica College | Santa Monica | Public | 29 | 1 |
| Palomar College | San Marcos | Public | 25 | 1 |
| College of Alameda | Alameda | Public | 23 | 1 |
| Mt San Antonio College | Walnut | Public | 20 | 1 |
| West Valley College | Saratoga | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Chaffey College | Rancho Cucamonga | Public | 14 | 2 |
| San Diego Mesa College | San Diego | Public | 13 | 1 |
| College of the Sequoias | Visalia | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Santa Rosa Junior College | Santa Rosa | Public | 11 | 1 |
| City College of San Francisco | San Francisco | Public | 10 | 1 |
| Saddleback College | Mission Viejo | Public | 10 | 1 |
What fashion designers earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
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
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
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 California.
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 349 degrees in California in 2024-25, 84.3% 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 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Apparel and Textiles, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 414 people a year in California.
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 California?+
25 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected 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 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card