Departments & Programs

Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design

Apparel Merchandising—B.S.
Purpose

The B.S. in Apparel Merchandising exposes students to every aspect of the retail cycle, allowing them to develop their creative and analytical skills into a progressive retail perspective. The Apparel Merchandising curriculum examines consumer-oriented and aesthetic components of the near environment and offers students a comprehensive examination of merchandising as it relates to the retailing industry of tomorrow. Course work includes product basics as well as current industry trends, coupled with a minor such as the Kelley School of Business Minor for Apparel Merchandising Majors, the Minor in Fashion Design, or other minor approved by the Apparel Merchandising advisor. Students prepare for a variety of careers in retail buying, retail management, product development, consumer services, visual merchandising, fashion promotion, retail account coordination, wholesale sales, brand management, merchandising management, sourcing, product manufacturing, and merchandise analysis.

Requirements

Any course taken to satisfy the requirements of the major must be completed with a minimum grade of C–, and the grade point average of all courses taken in the degree must be at least 2.000. Course prerequisites will be strictly upheld.

Students must complete the degree requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences including the following Foundations, CASE Intensive Writing, Foreign Language, Breadth of Inquiry, Critical Approaches, and Public Oral Communication requirements:

  1. Writing, same as B.A. (English Composition, CASE Intensive Writing).
  2. Mathematics, one course from the following: M118, M119, or equivalent. Higher level courses may be substituted.
  3. Foreign language, two years of one language, or one year of foreign language and two culture studies courses—one course from CASE DUS and another from CASE GCC.
  4. Arts and humanities, four courses.
  5. Social and historical studies, four courses, including Economics-E 201, E 202, and Sociology-S 100.
  6. Natural and mathematical sciences, three courses, including Psychological and Brain Sciences-P 101.
  7. One Critical Approaches course.
  8. One Public Oral Communication course.

Students must complete the following course work from the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design:

  • 28 credit hours, including AMID-R 100, F202, F203, R204 or F207, R315, R404, and R413; plus 9 credit hours of 300- to 400-level electives from AMID-R 308, R309, R316, R319, R321, R327, R328, R350, R405, R409, R410, R412, R416, R450, R490, R492, C380, C381, C480, C481, and Y398.

Students must also complete selected courses outside the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design, including:

  1. Arts and Sciences Career Services (ASCS) Q299, Economics E201 and E202, Psychological and Brain Sciences P101, and Sociology S100.
  2. Kelley School of Business courses: BUS-K 201, A200, and M300.

Students pursuing the Apparel Merchandising B.S. must also complete one of the following: the Business Minor for Apparel Merchandising Majors, the Minor in Fashion Design, or another related minor approved by the Apparel Merchandising advisor.

Only two courses for a maximum of 6 credit hours can be counted toward both the Apparel Merchandising B.S. and the Fashion Design B.A.; only two courses for a maximum of 6 credit hours can be counted toward both the Apparel Merchandising B.S. and the Minor in Fashion Design. A total of no more than 6 credit hours may be earned among the following courses: Y398, R321, H403, and F403.

Note: Apparel Merchandising B.S. students may exceed the normal maximum of 20 credit hours outside the College of Arts and Sciences, up to a limit of 26 credit hours, provided those credit hours are chosen from the following courses: Business A200, K201, L201, M300, M311, M312, Z302, or other business courses approved by the Apparel Merchandising advisor.

Supervised internships are available.