Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (VCU) has held its place as one of the top ranked public schools for art and design in the United States for over ten years. Aside from its main location in Richmond, VCU also has a campus in Education City in Doha, with strong collaboration and interchange between the two sites. The school also has partner programs overseas in the United Kingdom, Italy and Portugal. Only 63 percent of students in our survey expressed they were satisfied with the school’s teaching of technical skills—the lowest in our survey compared to the scores of other schools. However, over 80 percent of students were satisfied with business and marketing courses at the University. Seventy percent of students reported finding a job within 6 months of graduating and over 80 percent felt prepared to work in the fashion industry.
41st
Undergraduate, Fashion Ranking 2016
Full-time fashion students
376
International students
2%
Student : Teacher ratio
23:1
Tuition: Domestic/intl
$17k/$36k
Intl: Applies to students attending from out-of-state and out-of-country
Acceptance rate
58%
Graduation Rate
70%
Courses Offered
Undergraduate:
BFA Fashion Design, BA Fashion Merchandising
Student & Alumni Comments
"The curriculum is extremely challenging and demanding, which I enjoyed. I have seen myself come very far as a student and designer over the last four years. I wish there was a little more studio room to work, as I was part of a very large class. Also, more background in colour theory would help me feel a bit more knowledgeable. Overall, I feel very prepared entering the industry."
"The experience is great! I enjoyed all of my fashion core classes; however, I would love it if the clubs and fashion organisations would do more and host more meetings and events within the education and fashion community."
"There is a very special relationship between the students and the teachers in VCU's Department of Fashion. We are a very tight knit community and it is evident that the professors want the students to succeed."
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.