National Institute of Fashion Technology is a top-tier Institute of Design, Management and Technology in India. It was established in 1986 under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. In 2006, an Act of Parliament made it a statutory institute with the President of India as ‘Visitor’. At present, NIFT has 16 campuses in India: its main campus in New Delhi, and campuses at Bangalore, Jodhpur, Kangra, Kannur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna, Raebareli, Shillong, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad and Srinagar. The Union and State governments have used their services and knowledge in the positioning of handlooms and handicrafts as well as design development. NIFT is the first institute in India to award its own degrees in the field of Fashion Education which are also recognized worldwide.
The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) entrance exam is administered by the institute itself. The process of selection to the esteemed institute is three-tiered in its format encompassing the:
- Creative Ability Test (CAT)
- General Ability Test (GAT)
- Interview
NIFT provides various Undergraduate, Post-graduate courses together with a Doctoral program. Some courses include Bachelor of Design (Fashion, Leather, Textile etc) and Masters (Design, Fashion Management and Fashion Technology). The doctoral program is proffered by the Delhi campus only wherein interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research is promoted. Creativity and potential are key aspects that determine your success as a doctoral candidate at NIFT. Its research training gives candidates the required skills to administer research work, which seeks to solve critical problems affecting the industry, communities and the environment. It’s of utmost importance for you to choose a good thesis topic since your PhD degree would read the title of your thesis and not the area of your doctoral i.e. Design, Management, Technology.
Scholarships are subsidized by the NIFT Development Fund productively every year. Calculated based on parental income, students fall into 3 different slabs of fee assistance. The Means-cum-Merit Financial Assistance scheme entitles students from modest backgrounds to avail education at any NIFT campus at a lower tuition fee. Front runner companies like ITC and HomeShop18 have introduced various awards and scholarships to recognize and accolade academic brilliance at NIFT. Many other organizations in the apparel sector have incentivized and encouraged students at NIFT to come up with ideas to further the fashion and designing industry in India.
As for hostel facilities, female students have been provided with hostels at all the campuses of NIFT whereas male students can avail hostel facilities at the Chennai, Jodhpur, Srinagar, Rae Bareli, Mumbai campuses only.
The Student Development Activity Clubs (SDAC) helps the students to enhance and learn new skills. The Wednesday evening Zero hour is dedicated to the SDACs. The Social and Environmental club organizes events, competitions and festivals both Indian (Dushera Mela, Onam) and International (Halloween). They never fail to organize charity events like fundraisers and donation drives. Spectrum, the annual fest of NIFT, is successfully pulled off by the Cultural Club every year. The literary club thoroughly believes that “Words are the most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it.” It encourages others to scrutinize, criticize ideas and in the process evolve new thought processes. The Film and Photography club gave NIFT its first yearbook whereas the Sports club organizes the annual Meet, Converge, where the core teams from all the campuses compete with one another.
Students from NIFT have participated and won laurels in several esteemed international competitions like Edinburgh Design Competition, Scotland, Mittelmoda Premio, Triumph Inspirational awards. Some of the key institutes with whom NIFT has an association are Queensland University of Technology (Australia), De Montfort University (UK), Mod Art International (Paris), University of Northampton (UK), Copenhagen School of Design and Technology (Denmark).
NIFT had entered into a partnership with the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York, USA, first of its kind at NIFT, wherein meritorious students are given a unique opportunity of acquiring a Dual Degree from both the institutes. Students from NIFT take on two years of study at NIFT intercepted by one year of study at FIT. Thereafter, the students resume their studies at the home institution to obtain the Dual Degree from both institutes.
The Placement Process at NIFT is quite centralized. Companies can register for campus placements and once they get a confirmation can visit the campus for the placement procedure. This is called On-Campus Placement. Companies can also personally extend an offer to a student before the on-campus placements, on acceptance of the offer, it is considered a job placement. To provide equal opportunity to all, such students are then excluded from the on-campus placements. This is known as Pre-Placement Offers (PPO).
– Aishwarya Ojha
