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Fashion Schools in Washington, DC: Costs and Industry Guide

By · Reviewed November 9, 2026 · Editorial policy

Washington, DC is not a garment city, but it has more fashion education within reach than many people expect: a public community college associate degree in fashion merchandising, a fashion design concentration at Howard University, and separate design and merchandising bachelor’s degrees at Marymount University across the river in Arlington. Baltimore, about an hour away, adds a private university and a community college, and Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond runs one of the largest public fashion programs in the region.

This guide compares those programs, the local industry and the cost of living. For each state’s full list, see our guides to fashion schools in Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland.

Fashion schools in and near Washington, DC

Costs below are published in-state tuition and the average net price after grants, from U.S. Department of Education data. Net price includes housing and food. Official 2026-27 prices are in the program notes below. Howard University is not in the table because federal data counts its fashion graduates under its art degree; it is covered below.

School Location Type Tuition (in-state) Average net price Focus
University of the District of Columbia Lamond-Riggs campus, Northeast DC Public $8,636 $9,519 Merchandising
Marymount University Arlington, Virginia Private $42,986 $28,521 Design and merchandising
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, about 100 miles south Public $17,490 $25,037 Design and merchandising
Stevenson University Owings Mills, near Baltimore Private $41,278 $24,904 Design and merchandising
Baltimore City Community College Baltimore Public $3,314 $14,635 Design

The main programs

University of the District of Columbia Community College

UDC’s community college offers an Associate of Applied Science in Fashion Merchandising: 62 credit hours, 26 in liberal arts and 36 in merchandising, which full-time students can finish in four semesters. The degree includes an internship and a capstone course, and there is no portfolio; new students take a placement test. The program is based at the Lamond-Riggs campus on South Dakota Avenue in Northeast DC. UDC’s latest posted community college rates, labelled summer 2025, are $117 a credit hour for DC residents, $197 for residents of the wider metro area and $332 for others, plus $430 in fees each term. It is the cheapest fashion credential in the city by a wide margin.

Howard University

Howard’s Department of Art, in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, lists fashion design among its majors. The degree is a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art with a fashion design concentration, and its courses run from four fashion studios and two levels of fashion illustration to textiles, African American dress, sustainability, international trade and a fashion practicum. The art BFA is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. Howard did not raise tuition for 2026-27: full-time undergraduates pay $18,998 a semester, or $37,996 a year, and fine arts students pay an extra $200 equipment fee each fall. Ask the department about portfolio requirements before applying.

Marymount University

Marymount, a private Catholic university in Arlington, Virginia, offers two 120-credit degrees in its 2026-27 catalog: a BA in Fashion Design, in its School of Design and Art, and a BA in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing, in its School of Business. Design students build a portfolio in a required course and finish with a senior design research course plus either professional experience or fashion show production. Merchandising students must complete an internship or field experience, and juniors and seniors in both programs take part in the annual juried student fashion show, Portfolio in Motion. Full-time tuition for 2026-27 is $21,339 a semester, or $42,678 a year, and part-time students pay $1,433 a credit hour.

Farther out: Baltimore and Richmond

Stevenson University in Owings Mills, northwest of Baltimore, offers a BS in Fashion Design and a BS in Fashion Merchandising, both with a required internship. A portfolio is optional for design applicants, and the merchandising degree has specialized business accreditation. Full-time tuition for 2026-27 is $38,970 a year. Baltimore City Community College offers an AAS in Fashion Design, a fashion design certificate and a fashion retailing concentration, at $110 a credit hour for Maryland residents and $280 for out-of-state students.

Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond offers a BA in Fashion with a merchandising concentration and a BFA in Fashion with a design concentration, with more than 300 students across the two tracks. Tuition for 2026-27 is $14,047 for Virginia residents and $36,521 for out-of-state students, before fees.

The industry around the schools

DC’s fashion economy is mostly retail. CityCenterDC downtown has luxury and designer stores, including Gucci, Loro Piana and Vince, and Tysons Corner Center in Virginia, one of the largest shopping centers in the country, sits on the Metro’s Silver Line. The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, founded in 1925, holds more than 21,000 handmade textiles and is a useful resource for design and textile students.

The biggest apparel company in the region is Under Armour, headquartered on the Baltimore Peninsula, but it has been cutting costs under a restructuring plan through 2026, so students should not count on heavy hiring there. For design jobs and showroom internships, most graduates still look to New York; see our New York City guide.

Jobs and pay

Buyers and purchasing agents in the Washington metro area earned a median of $104,880 in May 2025, far above the national median of $77,710. That figure includes the area’s large government purchasing workforce, so it overstates what fashion buyers earn. Only about 80 fashion designers work in the metro area, with a median of $62,400, compared with $80,960 nationally. Our fashion merchandising degree guide explains buying and planning jobs.

What it costs to live here

HUD’s fiscal 2026 small area fair market rents show how much rent varies by neighborhood. Near UDC’s community college in Lamond-Riggs (ZIP 20017), a studio is $1,840 a month and a one-bedroom $1,890. Near Howard (ZIP 20001), a studio is $2,730 and a one-bedroom $2,820, and in Van Ness (ZIP 20008) they are $2,620 and $2,700. Near Marymount in Arlington (ZIP 22207), a studio is $2,300 and a one-bedroom $2,380.

Metrorail fares run from $2.25 to $6.75 at peak times, and a Metrobus ride costs $2.25. Monthly passes cost $72.00 to $216.00. Of the schools in this guide, none is currently on the Metro U-Pass list of participating colleges, but WMATA approved an expanded U-Pass in February 2026, at about $1 a day for schools that enroll every student and about $1.75 a day for an opt-in version, so ask your school whether it is joining.

Transfer routes and aid

DC residents can use the DC Tuition Assistance Grant, which rose for 2026-27 from $10,000 to $15,000 a year toward the gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition at public colleges anywhere in the country, such as VCU. It also pays up to $3,750 a year at private historically Black colleges, including Howard, and at private nonprofit colleges in the DC region. Virginia residents at private nonprofit colleges such as Marymount can receive the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant of $5,250 for 2026-27 if they apply by the deadline.

Students at Northern Virginia Community College can follow VCU’s published transfer map to its fashion design BFA, which recommends an associate in visual arts and an application after the first year; admission is competitive and a portfolio is reviewed.

Closed schools

The Art Institute of Washington in Rosslyn, which taught fashion, stopped admitting students in mid-2018 and closed.

Is studying fashion in Washington, DC worth it?

For merchandising and retail careers on a budget, yes: UDC’s associate degree is very cheap for DC residents, and DCTAG makes public universities elsewhere affordable afterward. Howard’s fashion design concentration and Marymount’s two degrees give design students real studio programs, but the local design job market is small, so plan for internships in New York. Students who want a large public program should compare VCU, and students weighing other East Coast cities can look at Philadelphia.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest fashion program in Washington, DC?

UDC Community College’s fashion merchandising associate degree, at $117 a credit hour for DC residents at the latest posted rate.

Does Howard University have a fashion design program?

Yes. Howard offers a fashion design concentration within its Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art.

Does Marymount University offer fashion design?

Yes. Marymount in Arlington offers a BA in Fashion Design and a BA in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing.

Where else should I look?

See the Virginia guide, fashion schools in New York City and our other city guides.

Sources

What changed on this page

  • November 2026: city guide published.