I think it looks alright. The staff are serious, with good qualifications from reputable institutions (some of them are graduates of FIT, in fact). It appears to have good connections in the industry, makes a decent effort to reach out to senior fashion executives through its executive education programme, and several well-known, successful alumni in everything from design to fashion journalism. It's affiliated to SUNY (State University of New York), which is highly reputable. I see they also offer plenty of opportunites for gaining practical experience, as well as having link-ups with good schools in Europe (Paris and London in particular). It doesn't appear in any of the top 100 MBA rankings, but this is for two reasons.
Firstly, they don't offer an MBA. There are a number of industry/management related courses they do offer at undergrad and graduate level, but an MBA is not one of them. Instead, for graduates they have an MPS (Master of Professional Studies), which is the equivalent to an MPA (Master of Public Administration). You'd be well advised to found out more about the differences, and to consider whether or not - and I'm not saying it will - this may affect your career options afterwards, bearing in mind there will be people with MBAs in, for example, luxury brand management, from top business schools, competing for the same jobs.
My second point, however, somewhat contradicts the first, but in a good way (I think). I don't think FIT is even trying to break into the MBA system. As a specialist fashion college its aims, ethos and student body will in many respects be very different from those of a business school. For a start, obviously, it is completely specialised. This leads me to think that not only will it know the industry and its needs, but it is unlikely to offer a qualification which would be completely useless to students trying to break into that industry. What I would also say, however, is that fashion is an extremely competitive business no matter what aspect of it one is most interested in, and job competition is very high. They themselves say only something like 40% of graduates find full- or part-time work in fashion after graduating. Whether that means just BA grads or everyone isn't stated. I assume that particular statistic to apply principally to BA design students.
It may be that an MPS is be an excellent way to get your foot in the door, but I imagine you would have to start relatively low down on the ladder. On the other hand, if your interest in fashion goes beyond seeing it as just another form of luxury brand management, a degree from FIT might tip potential employers as to your genuine personal engagement with this area, as opposed to someone who has the appropriate MBA but no real interest in or knowledge of fashion per se.
I think it looks alright. The staff are serious, with good qualifications from reputable institutions (some of them are graduates of FIT, in fact). It appears to have good connections in the industry, makes a decent effort to reach out to senior fashion executives through its executive education programme, and several well-known, successful alumni in everything from design to fashion journalism. It's affiliated to SUNY (State University of New York), which is highly reputable. I see they also offer plenty of opportunites for gaining practical experience, as well as having link-ups with good schools in Europe (Paris and London in particular). It doesn't appear in any of the top 100 MBA rankings, but this is for two reasons.
Firstly, they don't offer an MBA. There are a number of industry/management related courses they do offer at undergrad and graduate level, but an MBA is not one of them. Instead, for graduates they have an MPS (Master of Professional Studies), which is the equivalent to an MPA (Master of Public Administration). You'd be well advised to found out more about the differences, and to consider whether or not - and I'm not saying it will - this may affect your career options afterwards, bearing in mind there will be people with MBAs in, for example, luxury brand management, from top business schools, competing for the same jobs.
My second point, however, somewhat contradicts the first, but in a good way (I think). I don't think FIT is even trying to break into the MBA system. As a specialist fashion college its aims, ethos and student body will in many respects be very different from those of a business school. For a start, obviously, it is completely specialised. This leads me to think that not only will it know the industry and its needs, but it is unlikely to offer a qualification which would be completely useless to students trying to break into that industry. What I would also say, however, is that fashion is an extremely competitive business no matter what aspect of it one is most interested in, and job competition is very high. They themselves say only something like 40% of graduates find full- or part-time work in fashion after graduating. Whether that means just BA grads or everyone isn't stated. I assume that particular statistic to apply principally to BA design students.
It may be that an MPS is be an excellent way to get your foot in the door, but I imagine you would have to start relatively low down on the ladder. On the other hand, if your interest in fashion goes beyond seeing it as just another form of luxury brand management, a degree from FIT might tip potential employers as to your genuine personal engagement with this area, as opposed to someone who has the appropriate MBA but no real interest in or knowledge of fashion per se.
