Top Fashion Design Colleges in India 2026: Ranking, Fees, Admission, Placements

India has about 54 top-ranked fashion design colleges, including Pearl Academy, AAFT Noida, Symbiosis Institute of Design, NIFT Delhi, Army Institute of Fashion and Design, NIFT Mumbai, NIFT Bangalore, etc. NIFT Chennai, NIFT Gandhinagar, NIFT Kolkata, NIFT Patna, etc., provide BDes and MDes programs. Admissions are largely based on entrance exams like NIFT, CUET, UCEED, CEED, etc. 

Fashion Designing offers various courses like B.Des in Fashion Design, an MDes in Fashion Design, an MBA in Fashion Management, etc. Their graduates earn between INR 3 LPA to INR 9 LPA on average, with top offers going above INR 15 LPA from government institutes. Top recruiters include AND Design, Reliance Brands, H&M, Amazon, Zara, Myntra, and global fashion houses.

Top Fashion Designing Colleges in India: Known Facts 2026

Fashion designing colleges like the NIFT, NID, and private reputed institutions such as Pearl Academy and Symbiosis Institute of Design are a part of India today. With top fashion designing colleges spread across India and located in prime cities, the best prospects are available in fields such as textile designing, accessory designing, fashion communication, etc. If you are interested in the above-mentioned features of the best fashion designing colleges in India for 2026, you can consider the following facts. 

Parameters	Particulars
Total no. of Fashion Designing Colleges in India	50+ colleges
Total no. of NIFTs in India	19 (as of early 2026)
Top Fashion Design Institutes in India (as per India Today ranking 2025)	NIFT Delhi, AAFT Noida, NIFT Mumbai, NIFT Bangalore, NIFT Hyderabad, etc.
Fee range of top colleges	~ INR 44,000 - `INR 35+ lakh
Top Fashion Design Specialisations offered in India	Apparel Design, Textile Design, Jewellery Design, Knitwear Design, etc.
Accepted entrance exams	NIFT Exam, CUET, UCEED, etc.

Top Fashion Designing Colleges in India: India Today Ranking 2025

The 2025 MDRA-India Today Best Colleges Ranking for Fashion Designing is largely dominated by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) campuses with strong industry placements, infrastructure and high academic excellence. Here is the table showing top Fashion Design colleges in India with their rankings 2025 -

Top Fashion Design Colleges in India	India Today '25
NIFT Delhi Ranking	1
NIFT Bangalore Ranking	2
NIFT Mumbai Ranking	3
NIFT Hyderabad Ranking	4
NIFT Chennai Ranking	5
NIFT Gandhinagar Ranking	6
NIFT Patna Ranking	6
NIFT Kolkata Ranking	8
NIFT Jodhpur Ranking	9
Pearl Academy Ranking	10

Source: The above mentioned rankings been taken from the official NIRF site and will/may change in the future.

Eligibility Criteria of Top Fashion Designing Colleges in India 2026

The best fashion colleges in India can be pursued at UG and PG levels. The general eligibility criteria to get admission to the top colleges are mentioned below -

• For admission to BDes programmes, candidates must complete their Class 12 boards in any stream with a minimum 50% aggregate marks and must clear an accepted entrance exams like NIFT exam, CUET, UCEED, etc.
• Similarly, for MDes courses admission, they must have BDes degree with a passing percentage.

Entrance Exams Accepted in India's Fashion Design Colleges 2026

Joining the top-ranked Fashion Design colleges in India purely be based on entrance exam scores. Some of the accepted entrance exams are mentioned below with tuition fees and exam college predictor -

Exam Name	Exam Schedule	Exam College Predictor
UCEED	UCEED Schedule	UCEED College Predictor
NIFT Entrance Exam	NIFT Exam Schedule	NIFT College Predictor
NID Entrance Exam	NID Exam Schedule	NID College Predictor

Top Fashion Designing Colleges in India Accepting NIFT Entrance Exam 2026

Candidates can see the table below for the top fashion Design colleges in India accepting NIFT score along with their top 20 Fashion Designing colleges in india with fees:

College Names	Tuition Fee
NIFT Bangalore Admission	INR 12 lakh
NIFT Patna Admission	INR 12 lakh
NIFT Kolkata Admission	INR 12 lakh
NIFT Raebareli Admission	INR 12 lakh
NIFT Shillong Admission	INR 12 lakh

Top Fashion Designing Colleges in India Accepting CUET Exam 2026

Given below are the top Fashion Designing colleges in India accepting CUET scores along with their tuition fees:

College Names	Tuition Fee
Amity University Lucknow Admission	INR 6 lakh
Axis College Admission	INR 4 lakh

Top Private Fashion Design Colleges in India

There are about 35+ private Fashion Design colleges in India. These are privately run either as deemed university or affiliated to a university. They have international connections, modern infrastructure, and they provide industry-oriented courses. However, the fees are much higher than the government colleges. Here is the table below which reveals some of the top Private Colleges fees & India Today Ranking 2025 -

Private Colleges	Total Tuition Fee	India Today Ranking 2025
Pearl Academy, Rajouri Garden Fashion Design Courses	INR 13.2 lakh - INR 35.3 lakh	10
Symbiosis Institute of Design Fashion Design Courses	INR 7.7 lakh - INR 20 lakh	12
Army Institute of Fashion and Design Fashion Design Courses	INR 6.12 lakh	15
Pearl Academy Jaipur Fashion Design Courses	INR 2.8 lakh - INR 30 lakh	17
Amity School of Fashion Technology Fashion Design Courses	INR 2.9 lakh - INR 11.8 lakh	18
Pearl Academy Mumbai Fashion Design Courses	INR 12.8 lakh - INR 56 lakh	19
Amity University Lucknow Fashion Design Courses	INR 2.9 lakh - INR 12.1 lakh	20
World University of Design Fashion Design Courses	INR 8.1 lakh - INR 16.1 lakh	22
Amity University Kolkata Fashion Design Courses	INR 3.9 lakh - INR 5.7 lakh	23
IMS Design and Innovation Academy Fashion Design Courses	INR 12 lakh - INR 16 lakh	24
AAFT Noida Fashion Design Courses	INR 8.82 lakh	-

NOTE: Fees are taken from the official college site and can change.

ROI of India's Private Fashion Design Colleges

Joining the best private Fashion Designing colleges in India may have an impact on candidates as certain colleges like Dr. D.Y. Patil Arts, Commerce and Science College, Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya, Chandrapur have less tuition fees and they have good placement packages thus appropriate for candidates to opt private colleges. Candidates can check the ROI of each college by comparing tuition fees and average median salaries -

College Names	Total Tuition Fee	Median Salary Package
Dr. D.Y. Patil Arts, Commerce and Science College Placements	INR 1.61 lakh	INR 4.50 LPA
AAFT Noida Placements	INR 8.82 lakh	INR 10 LPA
Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya, Chandrapur Placements	INR 68,694	INR 3.27 LPA
JECRC University Placements	INR 4.86 lakh	INR 4.58 LPA
Indian Institute of Fashion Technology Placements	INR 4.70 lakh	INR 2.70 lakh
Poornima University Placements	INR 3 lakh	INR 3.60 LPA

NOTE: Fees are sourced from official college website and may vary.

Low-cost Top Private Fashion Designing Colleges in India

Generally, private colleges are more expensive than government colleges. However, there are some affordable colleges are also available. Check the table below for some of the top affordable private Fashion designing colleges in India -

Low-cost Colleges	Tuition Fee
Bon Secours College For Women Fees	INR 44,000
Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya, Chandrapur Fees	INR 28,900 - INR 68,700
Rathinam College of Arts and Science Fees	INR 1.80 lakh
Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science Fees	INR 1.95 lakh
Punjab College of Technical Education Fees	INR 1.79 lakh

NOTE: Fees are sourced from official college website and may vary.

Top Government Fashion Designing Colleges in India

Top government fashion designing colleges in india are primarily NIFT and NID colleges which are considered as top institutions having very good placement opportunities with very cheaper education than private institutes. Top campuses are NIFT Delhi, NIFT Mumbai, NIFT Bengaluru and NID Ahmedabad. Some of the government colleges with tuition fees are mentioned below with India Today ranking 2025 -

Public/Government Colleges	Total Tuition Fee	India Today Ranking 2025
NIFT Delhi Fashion Design Courses	INR 6 lakh - INR 13 lakh	1
NIFT Bangalore Fashion Design Courses	INR 5.6 lakh - INR 13 lakh	2
NIFT Mumbai Fashion Design Courses	INR 5.6 lakh - INR 13 lakh	3
NIFT Hyderabad Fashion Design Courses	INR 6 lakh - INR 13 lakh	4
NIFT Chennai Fashion Design Courses	INR 5.9 lakh - INR 13  lakh	5

NOTE: Fees are sourced from official college website and may vary.

Zone Type Fashion Design Colleges in India

Top Fashion Design Colleges in North india

Check below for the top colleges in North India.

Fee Range	Top Colleges
INR < 1 lakh	Dayalbagh Educational Institute Agra, Government Polytechnic College, Ghaziabad
INR 1-2 lakh	Government Home Science College, Chandigarh, Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, Punjab College of Technical Education
INR 2-3 lakh	CT Group of Institutions
INR 3-5 lakh	CT University
INR > 5 lakh	NIFT Delhi, Pearl Academy Delhi, Amity School of Fashion Technology, etc.

Top Fashion Designing Colleges in South india

Here is the zone-wise ranking of top fashion designing colleges in South India-

Fee Range	Top Colleges
INR < 1 lakh	Parsons School of Design, Online Executive Programs
INR 1-2 lakh	Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, JD School of Design, Bangalore
INR 2-3 lakh	PSG College of Arts and Science - PSGCAS
INR 3-5 lakh	T John Group of Institutions, The Oxford College of Science, Indian Institute of Fashion Technology, etc.
INR > 5 lakh	NIFT Bangalore, NIFT Hyderabad, NIFT Chennai, etc.

Top Fashion Design Colleges in East india

Here is the zone-wise ranking of top fashion designing colleges in East India-

Fee Range	Top Colleges
INR < 1 lakh	-
INR 1-2 lakh	-
INR 2-3 lakh	IIFD Kolkata (MSc Course)
INR 3-5 lakh	JD Birla Institute Kolkata, MAKAUT Kolkata
INR > 5 lakh	NIFT Kolkata, Amity University Kolkata, NIFT Patna

Top Fashion Design Colleges in West india

Given below is the zone-wise distribution of top Fashion Designing colleges in West India -

Fee Range	Top Colleges
INR < 1 lakh	Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya, Chandrapur
INR 1-2 lakh	Dr. D.Y. Patil Arts, Commerce and Science College
INR 2-3 lakh	-
INR 3-5 lakh	-
INR > 5 lakh	NIFT Gandhinagar, NIFT Mumbai, SID Pune, etc.

Comparison of the Top Fashion Design Colleges in India 2026 

To check the comparison of the best colleges for fashion designing in India, click on the link below -

• Punjab College of Technical Education Compare
• K.S.R. Women's College Compare
• HAMSTECH College of Creative Education Compare
• Amity University, Raipur Compare