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Fashion Schools in Dallas-Fort Worth: Costs and Industry Guide

By · Reviewed by Kamila Katkauskaite (Creative Brand & Content Coordinator), November 1, 2026 · Editorial policy

Dallas-Fort Worth is built around fashion wholesale. The Dallas Market Center, founded in 1957, has more than 800 permanent showrooms and holds apparel markets five times a year, where brands sell to boutique and department store buyers. The region’s fashion schools are built around that business side: a community college fashion program downtown, a small private fashion college, and two large public universities in Denton that send students into Dallas for internships.

This guide compares the fashion programs within reach of Dallas and Fort Worth, explains how students use the local industry, and sets out living and transit costs. For every Texas program, including UT Austin and Texas Tech, see our Texas fashion schools guide.

Fashion schools in Dallas-Fort Worth

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, which is why Dallas College’s net price is far higher than its tuition. Official 2026-27 prices are in the program notes below.

School Location Type Tuition (in-state) Average net price Focus
Dallas College Downtown Dallas (El Centro Campus) Public $2,970 $16,414 Design and merchandising
Wade College North Central Expressway, Dallas Private $17,692 $21,574 Design
University of North Texas Denton, about 40 miles north Public $11,309 $15,358 Design and merchandising
Texas Woman's University Denton, about 40 miles north Public $9,000 $11,060 Design and merchandising
Texas Christian University Fort Worth Private $63,590 $35,045 Merchandising

The main programs

Dallas College (El Centro Campus)

Dallas College teaches all its fashion programs at the El Centro Campus at 801 Main Street downtown: associate degrees in apparel design, fashion marketing and technical pattern design, plus certificates in fashion design, alterations, visual presentation and wholesale sales. Students show their work at a spring runway show; the 2026 show was held at an event venue in Irving. Dallas County residents pay $99 a credit hour, other Texas residents $169 and out-of-state students $250.

Wade College

Wade College is a small private college at The Gild building on North Central Expressway. It offers associate and bachelor’s degrees in fashion design and product development, and its students work market week at the Dallas Market Center and take internships from their first term. Tuition is $705 a credit hour from July 2026.

University of North Texas

UNT in Denton has two separate routes. The BFA in Fashion Design, in the College of Visual Arts and Design, is selective: students apply through a portfolio review at the end of their first year, and about 40 are chosen. UNT also runs a large merchandising department with degrees in fashion merchandising and digital business and e-commerce, and says its location gives graduates internship and job opportunities across Dallas-Fort Worth. Texas residents pay $50 a credit hour in statutory tuition plus $230.11 in designated tuition in 2026-27, before fees.

Texas Woman’s University

TWU, also in Denton, offers a BA in Fashion Design and a BS in Fashion Merchandising, with dual degrees that pair fashion with a business degree. It offers full-time internships and a senior fashion showcase. Texas residents pay $238 a credit hour in 2026-27.

Texas Christian University

TCU in Fort Worth teaches fashion merchandising only. Its BS requires a supervised internship and a minor, and the department keeps a historic costume collection. Tuition is $33,260 a semester in 2026-27, or $66,520 a year, though grants bring the average cost down sharply.

The industry around the schools

The Dallas Market Center, off Stemmons Freeway north of downtown, is open to the trade only, so students usually get in through school market-week programs and internships. Its 2027 apparel and accessories markets run in January, March, June, August and October, alongside a men’s show twice a year. The Dallas Design District next door adds interior showrooms and galleries.

The corporate side is in the suburbs. Catalyst Brands, formed in 2025 when JCPenney merged with SPARC Group, is headquartered in Plano and owns JCPenney, Brooks Brothers, Aeropostale, Lucky Brand and Nautica. Haggar’s Texas office is in Farmers Branch. The region has also lost some big names: Neiman Marcus announced in 2025 that it was closing its Dallas headquarters, and its downtown Dallas store was set to close in September 2026; VF Corporation sold Dickies, long associated with Fort Worth, to Bluestar Alliance in 2025. Students should treat buying, merchandising, wholesale and corporate retail as the main local career paths.

Jobs and pay

Buyers and purchasing agents in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area earned a median of $79,420 in May 2025, and the area has thousands of these jobs. Fashion designers are fewer, and their median pay of $63,210 is below the national median of $80,960. That gap is another reason Dallas suits merchandising careers best. Our fashion merchandising degree guide explains the buying and planning jobs.

What it costs to live here

Dallas is cheaper than the coastal fashion cities. HUD’s fiscal 2026 fair market rent for the Dallas area is $1,582 a month for a studio and $1,648 for a one-bedroom; in the Fort Worth-Arlington area it is $1,427 and $1,473. Downtown and Uptown cost more, and Denton less.

Dallas College students taking six or more credit hours ride DART buses and trains free. Full-time undergraduates at other schools in the DART area can get a reduced-fare pass at 50% off. The DART Green and Orange lines stop at Medical/Market Center Station, which connects to the Market Center by a pedestrian bridge. In Denton, UNT students ride the campus shuttle and local buses free.

Transfer routes

Texas public colleges share a 42-credit core curriculum and a common course numbering system, so general education courses at Dallas College transfer to UNT and TWU. Fashion studio courses usually do not: UNT’s transfer guide lists no common-numbered equivalents for its fashion design courses, and every design student still goes through its first-year portfolio review. Students aiming for UNT’s design BFA should plan on taking its fashion sequence from the start.

Is studying fashion in Dallas worth it?

For merchandising, buying and wholesale careers, yes. Dallas-Fort Worth combines a wholesale mart with more than 800 showrooms with corporate retail jobs and public university programs at Texas prices. For design careers it is a smaller market than New York or Los Angeles, and design pay is lower, so design students should weigh UNT’s selective BFA against programs in bigger fashion cities.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest way to study fashion in Dallas?

Dallas College, at $99 a credit hour for Dallas County residents, with free DART rides for students taking six or more credit hours.

Is Wade College inside the Dallas Market Center?

No. Wade is at The Gild building on North Central Expressway, but its students take part in market week at the Market Center.

Does UNT require a portfolio for fashion design?

Yes, at the end of the first year. About 40 students are admitted to the BFA through the portfolio review.

Where else should I look?

See fashion design schools in Texas, fashion schools in Atlanta and our other city guides.

Sources

What changed on this page

  • November 2026: city guide published.