Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu - Courses, Fees, Admissions 2026, Cutoff, Placements

There are nearly 169 Design colleges in Tamil Nadu that offer various design courses. Out of these, nearly 103 are private colleges, 22 are public-government colleges and 10 colleges are public private. 

Design Courses and Colleges in Tamil Nadu: Highlights

Parameters	Particulars/Statistics
No. of Design colleges in Tamil Nadu	Nearly 169 colleges in Tamil Nadu
Fees	Annual  fee < Rs 1 lakh:   Annual  fee < Rs 2-3 lakh:
Top Specialisations	Fashion Design, Apparel Design, Textile Design, Game Design, Graphic Design, UI/UX, Web Design, Jewellery Design, Lifestyle Accessory Design, Leather Design
Admission Process	UCEED  NIFT Entrance Exam  CEED  FDDI AIST  NID Entrance Exam

Design Courses in Tamil Nadu Eligibility Criteria

There are ample number of design colleges in Tamil Nadu that offer various design courses. To get admission in design colleges in Tamil Nadu, aspirants must be aware of the eligibility criteria that they need to possess at UG and PG levels:  

UG Design Courses: For admissions in a UG level design course, candidates must have a class 12th pass certificate from a recognised board with any streams like Science/ Commerce/ Arts.  

PG Design Courses: For admission in a PG level design course, aspirants must have a graduation degree from a recognised college. 

Top Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu with Shiksha Rating (Aggregate)

Here we have listed a few colleges based on Shiksha rating provided by students based on different parameters like course, faculty, campus, infrastructure, facilities, placements, curriculum, value for money etc. 

Tabulated below is the list of top 10 Design colleges in Tamil Nadu as per Shiksha Rating (Aggregate): 

Name of Colleges	Shiksha Rating Aggregate
Central Footwear Training Institute (CFTI Chennai)	4.4
Nehru Arts and Science College	4.3
Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women	4.3
Clusters Media College	4.0
Footwear Design and Development Institute	4.0
AIT Karaikudi - Alagappa Institute of Technology	4.0
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai	3.9
NIFT - TEA College of Knitwear Fashion (NIFT - TEA)	3.5
PSG Institute of Advanced Studies - PSGIAS	3.5
ICAT Design And Media College	3.2

List of Top Private and Government Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu 

Private Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu 

Private Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu	Course Fee (in Rs)
D J Academy Of Design	9.06 L - 15 L
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science	8.98 L
Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology	8.9 L
WLC College India	7.44 L - 13.63 L
Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences	7.24 L

Government Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu 

Government Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu	Course Fee (in Rs)
National Institute of Fashion Technology	5.35 L - 11.09 L
Footwear Design and Development Institute	5.18 L - 8.37 L
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management	2.6 L
AIT Karaikudi - Alagappa Institute of Technology	2 L

Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview: 

ROI of Top Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu  

Return on Investment or ROI is comparison between total investment and total income. Here in the article, the comparison of investment by a student and total earning by a student in the form of placement is shown. ROI factor helps in comparison of colleges while taking admission in Design college. The best Design colleges in Tamil Nadu with the Average Annual Fee and Average Placement Package are listed below in the table: 

College Name	Average Annual Fee (in Rs)	Average Placement Package (in Rs)
Vellore Institute of Technology	6.92 L	5.5 LPA
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science	8.98 L	4.92 LPA
Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology	8.9 L	4.75 LPA
SRMIST - SRM Institute of Science and Technology	6 L	3.5 LPA
Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences	7.24 L	3.5 LPA
School of Mass Communication, VELS Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies	3.35 L - 3.76 L	3.5 LPA

Note: Above statistics are based on the latest available data. 

Top Recruiters for Design Graduates 

The demand of design graduates is quite high these days. The average salary of a designer in India is around Rs 4 to 6 LPA. Below is the list of Design colleges in Tamil Nadu and a few top companies that recruit design graduates along with their placement ratings: 

Colleges	Placement Ratings (Based on Reviews)	Top Recruiters
Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women	4.3	Sutherland Global Services, Reliance Industries, M.priyadharshini, Kanchana.s, Just Dial, Bangalore, A.K.Ranka & Co
Nehru Arts and Science College	4.2	-
Clusters Media College	4.0	Amazon, Cognizant, HCL, Infosys, MPC, Prime Focus, R&H, RR Donnelley, Technicolor
Central Footwear Training Institute	4.0	-
National Institute of Fashion Technology	3.9	Ampm Fashions Pvt. Ltd, Cactus Menswear Fashion Pvt. Ltd, Future Group, Artex Apparels, Decathlon, Idea Worldwide
Footwear Design and Development Institute	3.9	BATA, Decathlon Sports, FDDI, Think And Learn Pvt Ltd, UNOFIN TECHNOLOGY, HCL, HPCSL,International Model United Nations, Lacoste, Shoppers Stop, Soulworks Media Pvt Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services, Walk In Store
AIT Karaikudi - Alagappa Institute of Technology	3.5	CMC Limited, Optimus Solutions, Indian Navy, Tafe,  IBM
ICAT Design And Media College	3.5	VAP Group, TenexxGlobalIndustries, T & R Autoworks Ceramic Pro Delhi, Realm Studios, Proxyarts, M1 Marketing Services, Hybiz.tv, Gnani.ai, Eclectic Group Northeast, 49 Frames
NIFT - TEA College of Knitwear Fashion	3.0	Armstrong Knitting Mills, Arvind Mills, Aviram Knitters, Balu Exports, Bhuvaneswari Tex, C and A, Centwin, Classic Knits, Decathlon

How affordable is studying Design in Tamil Nadu? 

Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview of the break-up of Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu based on fees: 

Based on the above pie chart, it can be estimated that pursuing Design from colleges in Tamil Nadu is quite affordable as approximately 11% of the colleges have course/annual fees ranging from Rs 2-3 lakh. Some of these colleges are: 

• Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science 
• Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences 
• National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai 
• Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai, VIT University 
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management 

 The fees of around 13% colleges is more than Rs 5 lakh. Some of these colleges are: 

• Sasi Creative Colleges 
• National Institute of Fashion Technology 
• Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 
• Footwear Design and Development Institute 
• SRMIST - SRM Institute of Science and Technology 

 Approximately 12% of Design colleges in Tamil Nadu have a moderately expensive fee structure that ranges between Rs 3-5 lakh. Some of these colleges are: 

• School of Mass Communication, VELS Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies 
• DOT School of Design 
• National Institute of Fashion Technology 
• SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Ramapuram Campus 
• Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute 

 The fees of around 18% colleges is between Rs 1-2 lakh. Some of these colleges are: 

• PSG College of Arts and Science - PSGCAS 
• Annamalai University 
• SRMIST - SRM Institute of Science and Technology 
• Hindusthan College of Arts and Science 
• Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science 

 Only around 33% of Design colleges in Tamil Nadu are affordable with a fee structure of less than Rs 1 lakh. These colleges are: 

• CSI Bishop Appasamy College of Arts and Science (CSIBACAS) 
• Tamil Nadu Open University - TNOU 
• School of Distance Education, Bharathiar University 
• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School of Textiles and Management 
• Parsons School of Design, Online Executive Programs (Talentedge) 

Design Specialisations offered in Tamil Nadu

Design colleges in Tamil Nadu offer various specialisations in Game Design 15, Graphic Design, UI/UX, Web Design, Jewellery Design, Lifestyle Accessory Design, Leather Design and so on. The most popular ones are Fashion Design followed by Apparel Design and Textile Design. 

Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview of the top 10 design specialisations offered by Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu: 

Which are the most popular Exams accepted by Design colleges in Tamil Nadu?  

The most popular entrance examinations for studying Design course in Tamil Nadu are UCEED and NIFT Entrance Exam. The other colleges accept score of CEED, FDDI AIST and NID Entrance Exam for admission into their colleges.  

Refer to the infographic below to get a detailed overview: 

Top Design Colleges in Tamil Nadu: Cutoff 

Different colleges in Tamil Nadu offering design consider scores of different entrance tests and often release their own cutoff scores. Given below table shows the cutoff accepted by some of these top colleges in Tamil Nadu for their different Design programmes. 

• National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai
• Nehru Arts and Science College
• Dr. N.G.P. Arts & Science College (DRNGPASC)
  
• Sri Krishna Arts and Science College

06-01-2022 00:00