FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
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Overview
Founded in 1973, FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco is located in a large city with a population of more than 250,000. It is in the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley CA area.
Highlights
Undergraduate program with the highest reported starting salary ($40K): Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Other
Largest undergraduate program (45): Fashion Merchandising
Address
55 Stockton St
San Francisco, CA 94108
WWW.FIDM.EDU
Additional links
SOURCES:
Accreditation:
best
Institutional Control
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco is a private for-profit organization and is related to other schools.
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Accreditation
Accreditation provides important oversight over a school's instructional practices and institutional stability.
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco holds an accreditation from one of the seven regional accreditors, which should ensure that credits earned transfer easily to other schools.
Accreditation History
National Association of Schools of Art and Design, Commission on Accreditation (Accredited July 1, 2003 - present)
WASC Senior College and University Commission (Accredited March 1, 2007 - present)
  • The next accreditation review was scheduled for September 1, 2018.
Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (Accredited June 1, 1981 - September 1, 2013)
Undergraduate Students
Not all students attend their first college full time to completion. While some schools are focused on those that population, many schools focus on transfer and or part time students. What types of of student does this school support.
SOURCES:
Admissions
Context: Average High School GPA
Last year's entering freshman class at FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco had an average GPA of 2.90. This is a lower GPA than reported by 28% of the context schools.
2.92.62.83.03.23.43.63.8
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Admissions Details
Here are some important dates and little tidbits. Please double-check this information on the FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco's webpage for the most up-to-date and accurate answers! We update this information with each school's annual reporting, but information can change unexpectedly. Select any item to view the details.
Admissions Criteria & Qualifications
Admissions Criteria & Qualifications
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco lists the following admissions priorities and requirements:
Very Important: interview, academic GPA, character/personal qualities, level of applicant's interest, talent/ability, rigor of secondary school record, and recommendation(s)
Important: application essay, extracurricular activities, and volunteer work
Considered: first generation, alumni/ae relation, work experience, standardized test scores, and class rank
Not Considered: state residency, religious affiliation/commitment, racial/ethnic status, and geographical residence
The average high school GPA for these students was 2.9.
A high school diploma or GED is required, and an international baccalaureate is accepted.
Application Fee & Common App
Application Fee & Common App
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco has an undergraduate application fee of $25. We did not find FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco on the Common Application site. Keep in mind that it never hurts to inquire with an Admissions office to see whether they might be willing to waive your application fee.
Freshman application dates
Freshman application dates
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco has a rolling admissions policy without deadlines.
Acceptances can be deferred if a gap period is desired -- check with the admissions office.
Transfer application information
Transfer application information
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco has a rolling transfer admissions policy without deadlines. Transfer students can begin studies in fall, winter, spring or summer.
Credits accepted from new students
Credits accepted from new students
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco accepts the following credits:
  • Transfer credits from accredited institutions
  • CLEP subject for transfers
  • ACE recommendations for credit
  • Life Long Learning credits for transfers
  • Dual credit (college credit earned while in high school)
  • Credit for life experiences
  • Advanced placement (AP) credits
Percentage of applicants who are accepted
A low percentage here can indicate that a school is highly selective. We think this is one of the least important numbers for you to consider.
Selectivity can be misleading
You may have heard that a high rejection rate is an indicator of a good school. However, this number can be gamed, and some schools started gaming the system to perform better in college ratings books and sites. Ididio believes a combination of good outcomes (e.g. successful graduation rates and loan repayments) along with indicators of a well-prepared student body (e.g. test scores and high school records) are the best indicators of a good academic experience for those who attend. Our advice is that you don't pay too much attention to this number as you decide whether you might be admitted.
54%43%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
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Percentage of accepted students who choose to attend
This is called the yield, and it suggests whether this was a first-choice school or a back-up school for most applicants. Even the most prestigious Ivy League schools lose about a third of their accepted students come enrollment time.
50%48%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
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Programs
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco program offerings
What award level are you pursuing?
Associate's Degree
Select a degree to see the details, or use the sankey below to explore the options.
Select a degree
Order degrees by.
Program Size (Completions)
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San FranciscoFashion MerchandisingDesign and Visual Communi...Fashion/Apparel DesignInterior DesignGraphic DesignTop 10 matching degrees
Business
Engineering/Design
Costs
Undergraduate costs
Here's a quick summary of costs to attend FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco. You will find the most up-to-date information at their website for admissions.
View
All
Charge
Annual fees
Annual tuition
Estimated books and supplies
Miscellaneous (living off campus)
Miscellaneous (living with family)
Off-campus room and board
Per-credit charges
Cost
$1,370
$31,362
$2,501
$5,274
$4,698
$15,084
$695
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Net price: the best estimate for the cost to attend
Most schools publish tuition rates that give them room to offer both scholarships and financial aid where applicable. Your best estimate of what might pay is to see what others with similar family incomes have paid. A more tailored and accurate estimate is available at this school's net price calculator.
Understanding net price

With their net price calculators, many colleges and universities give an idea of what merit-based aid might accompany need-based aid. For schools that share such data, we also provide financial aid data in the Finanical Aid sections.

There are some caveats to consider when using the net price estimates:

  • The net price calculation is weighted by this school's proportion of students living on- and off-campus and this school's estimate of off-campus costs, which may cause the net price methodology be a bit inconsistent from school to school.
  • Parental income and student financial aid eligibility is sometimes more complicated than the simple family income number reported here.
  • The net price calculation for all students is inclusive of students who received any institutional or government aid, but at the family income levels the net price only considers the tuition paid by those who qualified for federal aid.

You can get a little better guess at what you would pay by using this school's net price calculator.

Percentage of students receiving any aid
The donut, based on 44 full-time first-time degree seeking students at FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco, shows the percentage of those who received any financial aid (including merit-based scholarships), subdivided by family income.
74%
Aid type and family income
Federal: $0-30K
Federal: $30K-48K
Federal: $48K-75K
Federal: $75K-110K
Federal: Above $110K
Only institutional
Net price by family income
All Incomes
Let's look over the past few years at what freshmen who received any financial aid actually paid for tuition, fees, books, and living expenses on average, and how that compares to the tuition usually paid for other private universities in your context group. Public universities only report net price for in-state students.
20112012201320142015201620172018$0$20,000$40,000$60,000
Chart explanation
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
On the blue curve, we see how the net annual cost to attend FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco has changed over the years.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the net price for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Find your net price estimate: npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/fidm...
Not so much?
Historic Annual Costs
See how this school's published costs have changed over the years, and how their cost trends compare with other private schools.
Published costs may have little to do with what you actually pay

It's important to remember that a school's published costs may not be indicative of what it will actually cost to attend. Time magazine wrote about this in their article Yes, you can get a college to cut its tuition price. Nonetheless, this inflation-adjusted look at the historic annual costs for tuition, fees, books, and supplies can give you an idea of the costs you might expect in the coming years. Comparing the total costs inclusive of room and board (if applicable) with the annual net price estimates in the previous tab will help you determine the financial aid package to expect.

Private and public universities' charges are difficult to compare due to the in-state and out-of-state price differences of public universities, and therefore we only compare FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco to other private schools within your chosen context group.

Undergraduate tuition, fees, books, and supplies over time
20122013201420152016201720182019$0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000
Chart explanation
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
On the blue curve, we see how the published annual cost to attend FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco has changed over the years.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the annual cost for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Financial Aid
Financial aid overview

Understanding the rules and process that determine who gets financial aid can be intimidating. Here are some quick links to help:

  • Visit FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco's Net Price Calculator for the most accurate estimate of your anticipated costs. Every school publishes a Net Price Calculator that does its best to give you a fair estimate of what you might expect to pay. Many calculators consider your high school record as part of the calculation. This will be far more accurate than any of the averages or published tuition values that you see here.
  • FederalStudentAid, a government site that will walk you through the federal financial aid process. There are a number of kinds of student loans and other aid, and this site can walk you through all of the choices you will need to make.

Required Forms

FAFSA

Institution's financial aid form

Loan Programs

Federal Perkins

Need-based Scholarships Available

Federal Pell Grants

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants

State scholarships/grants

Private scholarships/grants

International Students
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco provides both need- and non-need-based aid to international students.
Undergraduate Outcomes
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Context and trends: Repayment Rate
How much progress do you think you'll be able to make towards paying down your college loans seven years after leaving school? In our research, we discovered that a surprisingly large number of students don't default on their loans, but also aren't making progress in paying down their principal amount. The percentages here count alumni who have decreased their loan amounts by at least $1.
Years after leaving school.
7
5
3
201320142015201620%40%60%80%100%Former students with decreased loan principal
Chart explanation
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
On the blue curve, we see the percentage of alumni from FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco who have successfully reduced their federal school loans by at least $1 by the date shown, which is 7 years after leaving the school.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the loan repayment rate for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Context and trends: are the loan default rates as small as possible?
The default rate is the percentage of students who are already delinquent on their loans within three years of leaving the school. If a school has a high default rate, that sends an alarm out that the students' educations are not sufficient to earn enough to repay those loans. Read below for details on the typical loan burden, and keep in mind that a low default rate may be more important than loan amounts in predicting your future success.
201420152016201720180%5%10%15%20%25%Former students with loan payment failure
Chart explanation
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
On the blue curve, we see the percentage of alumni from FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco who have defaulted on their federal school loans within 3 years ending on the date shown.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the 3-year loan default rate for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Loan burden
At FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco, 73% of full-time degree-seeking freshmen receive federal student loans, averaging $6,473 each in just the freshman year. We have much more details about the full loan burden students experience in our Cost and Financial Aid Section.
Context: Percentage of freshmen with federal loans
73%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Average freshman federal loan amount
$6,473$2,000$4,000$6,000$8,000$10,000
Not so much?
Alumni earnings compared to same-aged Americans
The blue curve shows the earnings of this school's alumni -- so a high curve indicates this school is setting its students up for success!
More information about earnings data

How might your earnings compare with other people your age? Opportunity Insights used IRS data to track almost every person born in the US in the years 1980 to 1991, and they ranked the mean (average) 2014 earnings of students who attended FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco in comparison to all people in the US the same age. Although this data is now a little old, the scope of this project was awesome and gives us a glimpse at alumni performance that we cannot find until a new study of this incredible magnitude is performed.

You might notice a little earnings dip at young ages for some of the top bachelor's institutions. This coincides with the years that many alumni may be in graduate school and earning less.

232425262728293031323334Approximate former student age40506070Average earnings percentile
Chart explanation
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
In the blue curve, we see how the average earnings percentile for this school changes as its alumni age as compared to like-aged Americans without regard to their educational background.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of these average alumni earnings percentiles for context schools: dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools and light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Wealth mobility at FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
We may wonder if, as a result of attending a given college, we will have a better chance for higher earnings. Opportunity Insights sought to answer this question by following the wealth story of every student for whom income information was available.
Learn more about the mobility study
How does wealth change after attendance?

Opportunity Insights studied groups of all children born in the US in the same year for each birth year from 1980 to 1991. This grouping included every single US child who had a valid SSN or ITIN (tax identification number) and could be linked to parents with non-negative income.

Family Income

The incomes of all families in a birth year group are measured when the child is 15-19 and these incomes are averaged. The calculated incomes from all families in the group were arranged from smallest to largest, and divided into five groups of equal size. On the left of the diagram, you can see the relative distribution of FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco's students between the family income divided into fifths formed by looking at the entire US group.

Individual Student Earnings

In 2014, all people from the same birth year were divided into a new set of five groups that were determined by their individual labor earnings for that year. The students from this birth year who primarily attended FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco between the ages of 19 and 22 were divided into these five groups, and the percent in each group is shown on the right of the diagram.

The diagram lets you see the proportion in each original income group who travel to each earnings group, and provides some insight into the likelihood of financial success after attendance.

If you'd like to understand the nitty gritty details of this interesting data, be sure to check out the well-written Opportunity Insights report by selecting SOURCES under the figure.

Below, we can see the percentage from each initial family wealth group who attend this college, and also the alumni's relative wealth later. Do students entering college from the bottom twenty percent of family income end up making it to a higher level? Do the top twenty percent stay at the top? Follow the colors, left to right, and see for yourself.
$24,300$45,100$72,900$110,300$900$18,500$35,200$55,800Lowest 20%Second-lowestMiddleSecond-highestHighest 20%Highest 20%Second-highestMiddleSecond-lowest Lowest 20%Family IncomeStudent Income
Classroom Experience
Student attention at FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
Schools are required to report the ratio of students per instructor, but look for a small number of students for every full-time instructor as your best indicator of personal attention and a modern well-integrated curriculum.
20.1110204060Full-time inst.Any inst.
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Full-time and long-term instructors at FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco
Full-time faculty are mostly likely to be on campus and available for interaction, and to craft up-to-date courses and programs. FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco has 41% full-time instructors, and 60% of the context schools have a higher percentage of full-time instructors. Faculty with multi-year contracts provide additional stability and commitment to the school and its students.Within the full-time instructors at FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco, none have multi-year employment contracts. Of the context schools, only 31% have instructors with multi-year contracts.
Full-time instructors
41%
Long-term instructors
0%
SOURCES:
Not so much?
Faculty Diversity
Here's an opportunity to explore the faculty's diversity. For many schools, attracting a diverse teaching faculty can be a challenge. It's important to judge their success with the reality check of what their peer schools have accomplished.
Number of full-time instructors
The chart shows male instructors to the left, and female to the right, with the races/origins included along the bars. Select the context graph to see how this diversity profile compares to the schools that interest you.
AsianWhite0246Men0246Women
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Housing
No Student Housing Available
This school does not report any housing for students.
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Activities and Services
Special academic opportunities
  • Accelerated Degree
  • Cooperative program
  • Credit for advanced placement
  • Distance learning
  • English as a Second Language program
  • Formal adult program
  • Honors Program
  • Independent study courses
  • Internships
  • Off campus study: Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising
  • Off campus study: Los Angeles Campus
  • Orientation program
  • Part-time degree programs
  • Remediation available
  • Services for learning disabilities
  • Study abroad
  • Summer session
Undergraduate services offered
  • Personal/psychological counseling
  • Remedial services
  • Academic/career counseling services
  • Employment services for current students
  • Placement services for program completers
Programs for Veterans
If you are a veteran, it's worth digging around to find a military-friendly campus. We think this article about how colleges might help veterans might be a good starting point for questions to ask the Admissions office before you choose to attend. It's also good to be aware that many for-profit schools are behaving as predators, hungry for GI Bill dollars. Watching out for those schools is no different for veterans than for all students: judge very critically using our "Student Satisfaction and Success" tab for undergraduate programs. We wish we had the same data to support graduate programs; however, we think the undergraduate data is a good starting point for judging overall quality.
  • Dedicated point of contact for support services for veterans, military servicemembers, and their families
  • Member of Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges
  • Recognized student veteran organization
  • Yellow Ribbon Program
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Research
The library is the backbone of academic learning and research

We have no library data for FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco in spite of the fact that about 29.6 of the degrees it awards are bachelor's or higher degrees. It is unusual for a school with this focus to not have library data. In fact, about 90% of the schools that graduate at least 10% of students at the bachelor's or higher level report library information.

In the age of digital resources, a library can offer incredible support even to distance education students. For students on campus, the library is the study and meeting hub for both residential and commuting students. Through the academic libraries, students can freely access resources not available on the internet.

It is difficult to imagine a meaningful bachelor's or graduate degree program that does not require independent research projects from its students. Without academic library resources, those projects could become quite expensive and also much more difficult, because academic librarians are indispensable for guiding students toward appropriate resources for a research project. The greater fear is that a lack of library means that minimal research and outside reading is expected of students. If you're interested in attending FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco, you should ask about their library resources and research expectations, and make sure that you would be receiving the academic challenges and support that you and your future reputation deserve.

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Research funding: the best indicator of post-baccalaureate academic rigor
Any school that reports at least $150,000 in research and development expenditures in a given year should have submitted out the Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) survey to the National Science Foundation (NSF). We did not find HERD data for $FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco, so there would at most modest graduate-level academic scholarship campus-wide.
Student Body
Study Types
About 78% of students are full-time. About 4% of students take all of their courses via distance education, while another 24% take some courses online.
Full-time
78%
Online classes
28%
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Context: Student body size
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco enrolled 272 students over the past academic year. The the student body size is smaller than 65% of the context schools.
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Undergraduate student gender
Is the gender balance of FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco students important to you? You can see the breakdown in this donut chart.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
Undergraduate student race/origin
FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco reports that 54% of students are minority, which is more than 62% of the context schools. This school's 5% of international students representing 13 countries is near the middle proportion of international students within the context schools.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
Context: Gender Balance
It is very difficult for many types of schools to achieve a gender balance, and this context is valuable in evaluating the balance at FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco.
15%85%0%20%40%60%80%100%MenWomen
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Context: Percentage of women
With 85% women students, FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco has a higher percentage of women than 71% of context schools.
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Context: Student race/origin
Here is how FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco compares to the rest of the context group in terms of diversity in the student race and origin.
7%36%21%17%1%3%5%6%5%0%20%40%60%80%100%American IndianPacific IslanderInternationalMultiracialNot ReportedBlackAsianHispanicWhite
Freshman residences

A high proportion of international and out-of-state students speaks to reputation and offers an opportunity for diverse interactions in and out of class.

FIDM - Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - San Francisco has undergraduates from 15 states or territories and 13 countries.

Freshman residence
In-state
Out-of-state
International
Not Reported
Student age distribution
The age distribution at a school can tell you a lot about its mission. If you're looking for a traditional undergraduate experience, you may prefer to see students who are mostly younger than 25 (lighter shades), but if you want support as a returning student, a large number of students 25 and older (darker shades) may better suit your needs.
Age range
18-19
20-21
22-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-49
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