Source: Courtesy Image

Global Fashion School Rankings 2016

Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Helsinki, Finland

Founded in 1871 in Finland, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture has since established itself as one of the most prestigious art schools in the world, offering arts related courses at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. Admission to Aalto is extremely competitive, with an acceptance rate of about 8 percent for the BA program. The school’s small size, with less than 200 full time students across BA and MA programs, allows for students to benefit from highly engaged teaching groups and individual tutoring. Students rated the school’s course offerings in technical skills highly, but expressed dissatisfaction with courses in business and marketing. Overall, the students’ rating of the quality of their teachers and peers came in below average compared to other schools in our survey. However, over 80 percent of survey participants reported finding a job within 6 months of graduation and an impressive 100 percent of students surveyed felt prepared to work in the fashion industry.

Select Year

3rd

Undergraduate, Fashion Ranking 2016

Full-time fashion students

60

International students

0%

Student : Teacher ratio

15:1

Tuition: Domestic/intl

$0k/$0k

Acceptance rate

8%

Graduation Rate

90%

Courses Offered

Undergraduate:
BA Fashion (Major)

15th

Graduate, Fashion Ranking 2016

Full-time fashion students

110

International students

25%

Student : Teacher ratio

13:1

Tuition: Domestic/intl

$0k/$0k

Acceptance rate

50%

Graduation Rate

85%

Courses Offered

Graduate:
Master's Programme in Fashion and Collection Design

Student & Alumni Comments

"I've loved my time in Aalto and I feel like it's a very good school to be in right now. Students and alumni are very successful in employment (mainly going to fashion houses in Paris and London) as well as in competitions."

Student

"It has an open minded atmosphere in creation and pushes students to go abroad and think global. You also learn about print design and knitwear, which has been useful. It is a healthy environment and the teachers were demanding enough."

Alumni

"Very positive. The school, the teachers and the students challenge each other to do better all the time. There's a unique atmosphere of encouraging each other, supporting and helping each other, pushing each other further."

Alumni

"The BA was both challenging and instructive, and I feel I gained my most important skills and ways of working in the industry during my BA years. The MA program has unfortunately been a disappointment; the structure of the studies has been made very difficult for a student to handle, most of the general courses are not related to a field in fashion at all, and there are several courses that are almost identical to the ones I already had in BA."

Student

Full Undergraduate, Fashion Ranking

The Business of Fashion's global fashion school rankings aim to provide an objective assessment of the top undergraduate and graduate fashion programmes around the world.

Full Graduate, Fashion Ranking

The Business of Fashion's global fashion school rankings aim to provide an objective assessment of the top undergraduate and graduate fashion programmes around the world.