Teaching and Learning
FACULTY
FIT’s approach to teaching blends theory and practice, encouraging exploration and research, experiential learning, and openness to new ideas. FIT’s dedicated faculty are drawn from professionals in design, arts, business, and academia, bringing to the classroom insights from their own creative and authoritative work. Courses are structured to foster student-instructor interaction, independent thinking, and self-expression.
LIBERAL ARTS
The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers three degree programs and 35 minors. Courses help students acquire knowledge across the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences, and build critical thinking and communication skills. The school’s Presidential Scholars honors program offers academically accomplished students in all majors an enriched learning environment of rigorous classes and shared scholarly extracurricular activities. Every major in the schools of Art and Design and Business and Technology requires a foundation in Liberal Arts courses.
MINORS
Minors are available through the schools of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Art and Design, and Business and Technology. Minors enrich students’ education by enabling them to broaden their knowledge in an area related to their major, to study across disciplines, or to explore another field of interest. For help in choosing a minor, students should contact the Academic Advisement Center. See Academic Minors for more information.
INDUSTRY ADVISORY BOARDS
Many FIT degree programs are supported by advisory groups, drawn largely from the college’s highly placed alumni. They consult with faculty to keep the curriculum current and industry relevant, arrange field trips, help students identify career options, and work to maintain close ties between FIT and industry.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
FIT makes extensive use of New York City’s resources through industry-sponsored competitions, projects, and field trips—real-world opportunities that connect the classroom and the workplace and give students exposure to their industry. Among the many organizations students have worked with: Tommy Hilfiger, Girl Scouts of the USA, Sephora, Carolee, PVH, Soma, and the NFL.
INTERNSHIPS AND CAREER PLACEMENT
Internships can be an essential part of the FIT experience. The college’s extensive internship program provides students with vital experience in a vast array of New York corporate offices, design studios, retail operations, and web-based companies. Sponsors have included American Eagle, Bloomingdale’s, Calvin Klein, L’Oréal, and Saatchi & Saatchi. Nearly one-third of student interns are offered employment after graduation. Job placement services, including career-building workshops and resources, are available to students, and lifetime services are offered to alumni.