Best Fashion Designer programs in Missouri, ranked by enrollment
Design clothing and accessories.
4 schools in Missouri run programs that feed this job, graduating 31 people a year. The job pays a median of — in Missouri across about 200 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Missouri that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Missouri that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Missouri (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 Missouri page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0407In Missouri → | 24 | 77.4% | 3 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0510In Missouri → | 7 | 22.6% | 2 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
Top 4 schools in Missouri
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 4 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington University in St Louis St. Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Fashion/Apparel Design | $33,615 | 94% | $14,126 | 12% |
| 2 | Stephens College Columbia, MO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 43% | $23,198 | 77% |
| 3 | Lindenwood University Saint Charles, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Fashion/Apparel Design | — | 49% | $17,436 | 57% |
| 4 | Webster University Saint Louis, MO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Costume Design | $13,182 | 64% | $25,090 | 86% |
All 4 schools in Missouri
Every school in Missouri 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington University in St Louis | St. Louis | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 1 |
| Stephens College | Columbia | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 2 |
| Lindenwood University | Saint Charles | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Webster University | Saint Louis | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
What fashion designers earn in Missouri
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Missouri
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 Missouri
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 Missouri.
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 24 degrees in Missouri in 2024-25, 77.4% 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 31 people a year in Missouri.
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 Missouri?+
4 institutions in Missouri 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 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
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