Textile Studies

Types of Degrees Textile Studies Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many textile & apparel studies graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	2,292
Associate Degree	265
Undergraduate Certificate	159
Basic Certificate	144
Master’s Degree	79
Doctor’s Degree	14
Graduate Certificate	8

What Textile Studies Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, textile studies majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Textile Studies Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Textile Studies Majors

When studying textile studies, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for Textile Studies Majors

As a textile studies major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Textile Studies Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with textile studies:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Farm and Home Management Advisors	7.7%	$49,840
Fashion Designers	2.5%	$72,720
Interior Designers	4.5%	$53,370
Marketing Managers	10.1%	$134,290

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Textile Studies?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 2,587 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in textile & apparel studies in 2021, making it rank #123 in popularity. The major attracts more women than men. About 88% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of textile studies majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	161
Black or African American	228
Hispanic or Latino	354
White	1,289
International Students	100
Other Races/Ethnicities	160

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Textile Studies. About 4.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Textile Studies

Some degrees associated with textile studies may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for textile studies careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	10.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	3.6%
Some College Courses	8.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	42.4%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.3%
Master’s Degree	16.5%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.5%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	3.8%
Doctoral Degree	1.3%

Online Textile Studies Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	45	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	58	3
Bachelor’s Degree	6	3
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	27	4
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Textile Studies

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to textile studies.

Major	Number of Grads
Human Development & Family Studies	40,263
Food, Nutrition & Related Services	4,014
General Family & Consumer Sciences	2,454
Family & Consumer Economics	1,208
Human Sciences Business Services	560
Housing	314
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences (Other)	142
Work and Family Studies	10

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Elisa.rolle under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.