FIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
About
The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) was a private college founded in 1969 by Tonian Hohberg in downtown Los Angeles. In 2023, Arizona State University (ASU) announced that FIDM would become a part of ASU's fashion education program. The school officially closed on March 31, 2025 with its final graduating class.
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 5.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 12 Title IV programs, 8 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 4 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing8 · 66.7%
- No Data4 · 33.3%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
WASC Senior College and University Commission
WASC Senior College and University Commission
National Association of Schools of Art and Design, Commission on Accreditation
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
Programmatic accreditations · 1
Action history · 11
- Mar 2025Loss of Accreditation or Preaccreditation: Voluntary WithdrawalWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Mar 2025Voluntary Withdrawal ReceivedWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Nov 2023Grant Substantive Change: OwnershipWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Nov 2023Grant Substantive Change: OwnershipWASC Senior College and University Commission
- Jun 2023Accreditation Reaffirmed: Probation RemovedWASC Senior College and University Commission
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 78 students received $385K in Pell grants, alongside $1.6M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 917 borrowers who entered repayment, 19 (2.0%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
Academic programs at FIDM
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- Public property1
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
FIDM vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions FIDM selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectFIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising | 65% | — | 564 | $41,493 | Baccalaureate |
Academy of Art University | 34% | — | 5,498 | $39,778 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
California State University-Long Beach | 69% | 46.3% | 42,003 | $8,931 | R2 Research |
Fashion Institute of Technology | — | 60.2% | 8,206 | $22,024 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Small Programs |
Kent State University at Kent | 64% | 86.3% | 26,374 | $19,614 | R1 Research |
LIM College | 49% | 95.9% | 1,467 | $37,514 | — |
Otis College of Art and Design | 66% | 81.8% | 1,267 | $45,864 | — |
Savannah College of Art and Design | 69% | 83.0% | 18,550 | $45,450 | Masters Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs |
The New School | 69% | 63.5% | 9,068 | $55,359 | R2 Research |
| Peer group median | 66% | 81.8% | 8,206 | $39,778 |
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Frequently asked questions about FIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about FIDM.
What is the graduation rate at FIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising?
How many students attend FIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising?
What is the average net price at FIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising?
Where is FIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising located?
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