FIT: NURTURING UNCONVENTIONAL MINDS
Known worldwide as the leading institution of fashion education, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is also an internationally renowned State University of New York college of art and design, business and technology. Offering 48 programs leading to the AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees, FIT is committed to blending an academic experience with a career-focused curriculum. Our graduates leave with professional skills and broad-based knowledge, enabling them to achieve notable success.
The college’s faculty is drawn from New York City’s industry experts, at the forefront of their fields, who infuse a hands-on teaching approach with real-world expertise. FIT’s faculty helps to ensure that our schools and programs evolve and adapt apace with industry.
New York City is FIT’s campus, playground, and muse. World capital of fashion, business, design, and the arts, the city provides students with exposure to these industries, and FIT nurtures these connections through guest lectures, industry partnerships, and field studies. Located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, the college offers easy access to major museums, galleries, auction houses, design studios, and the retail industry. FIT’s multibuilding complex comprises a full city block, and the campus is easily accessible by subway, bus, and commuter rail lines.
As FIT defines its future educational goals, it continues to reflect on its original mission. In setting out to create “the MIT for the fashion industries,” FIT’s founders were clear on the college’s purpose, and the institution remains unique in its history and in its educational offerings. Just seven years after its 1944 founding, FIT became one of the first community colleges under the State University of New York empowered to grant the Associate in Applied Science degree.
As the curricula expanded beyond fashion and its more broadly defined industries, including design, business, and communications, changes in FIT’s degree program offerings were also made. In 1975, an amendment to the education law of New York State was approved, permitting the college to confer Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees. Four years later, another amendment was approved, authorizing the granting of master’s degrees. The first Master of Arts programs were introduced in 1985, the first Master of Professional Studies degree was added in 2000, and the Master of Fine Arts degree was introduced in 2010. Today, there are approximately 9,000 students at FIT, including 200 graduate students, attending classes day and evening, year-round, in New York City, online, and in the college’s international programs. With each new program, whether professional certificate, associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s, FIT continues to serve the needs of students seeking advanced education in specific fields of study.
FIT is a public institution, receiving its principal financial support from the State and City of New York. The college is governed by its own Board of Trustees, all of whom are active professionals committed to the development of talent and the advancement of industry. The college’s local sponsorship comes from the New York City Department of Education in cooperation with the FIT Foundation. It is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation.
FIT is firmly committed to creating an environment that will attract and retain people of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds. By providing a learning and working environment that encourages, utilizes, respects, and appreciates the full expression of every individual’s ability, the FIT community fosters its mission and grows because of its rich, pluralistic experience.
FIT is committed to prohibiting discrimination in its employment, programs, and activities, whether based on race, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, religion, ethnic background, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military service status, genetic information, pregnancy, familial status, citizenship status (except as required to comply with law), or any other criterion prohibited by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy may be directed to the affirmative action officer/Title IX coordinator, (212) 217-3360, titleix@fitnyc.edu.
FIT’S Mission
FIT prepares students for professional excellence in design and business through rigorous and adaptable academic programs, experiential learning, and innovative partnerships. A premier public institution in New York City, FIT fosters creativity, career focus, and a global perspective and educates its students to embrace inclusiveness, sustainability, and a sense of community.
FIT’S Vision
FIT will be globally celebrated as the institution where students, scholars, and teachers cross traditional disciplinary boundaries to stimulate innovation, partner with creative industries worldwide, and develop innovative design and business solutions. By focusing on the three major goals, FIT will become stronger by conscious design and be known as a strategic organization—one that applies available resources to greatest effect to achieve its vision.
- Academic and Creative Excellence
FIT will provide a rigorous learning experience built on the highest standards of academic and scholarly excellence, an environment that promotes creativity and experimentation, and diverse experiential learning with a variety of industry partners. - An Innovation Center
The college will work with industries worldwide to help address key challenges, build an even stronger culture of innovation and entrepreneurship at FIT, and establish collaborations that translate creative ideas into action. - An Empowered Student Community
FIT will build an inclusive community in which students engage with, learn from, and inspire one another—discovering how their differences and similarities promote creativity, intellectual and personal growth, and understanding.