Fashion Marketing Courses at Penn Foster College
Program Name:
Associate's Degree in Fashion Merchandising
| Music Appreciation |
| Course Number |
HUM 104 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
135 Lecture hours
Appreciating music; roles of composer and
listener; principles of music theory and
instrumentation; historical periods; varying
styles of music. PREREQ: None |
| Introduction to the Fashion Industry |
| Course Number |
FSH 101 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Traces the development of fashion and the
fashion industry; shows how consumer
demand affects fashion marketing; explains
fashion change and consumer acceptance;
covers market research and analysis; traces
the development, production, and
marketing of raw materials; covers
international fashion centers as well as
retailing, merchandising, and marketing.
PREREQ: None |
| Color Theory |
| Course Number |
GRD 105 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Color Theory covers the analysis of the
dynamic interaction of color and its
implications for designers and artists.
This course also covers the physics of color,
colored light, colored pigments, and the color
wheel. Students are introduced to basic color
principles, industry terminology, Johannes
Itten’s color theory and applications, with an
emphasis on manipulating color. PREREQ:
Graphic Design Orientation |
| History of Fashion |
| Course Number |
FSH 110 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
With this course, you’ll gain an
understanding of the history of costume in
the West. Beginning with ancient times,
you’ll study the dress of each era in the
context of the historical events, societal
values, and technology that influenced
clothing and its production. You’ll also
learn how the organization and function of
the fashion industry changed as it became
more complex. PREREQ: None |
| Basic Accounting |
| Course Number |
ACC 113 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Description: N/A |
| Introduction to Textiles |
| Course Number |
FSH 120 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Introduces students to textiles in a nontechnical way; covers laws and regulations
of the textile industry; identifies yarns,
fabric formation, coloration, and finishes;
examines the properties of fibers.PREREQ:
Introduction to the Fashion Industry; Color
Theory |
| Marketing |
| Course Number |
MKT 301 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
The marketing environment; planning,
information, and segmentation; consumer
and business buyer behavior; product and
distribution strategy; promotion and
pricing strategy. PREREQ: None |
| Merchandising Math |
| Course Number |
MAT 215 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Students will learn the concepts of profit
and the calculation, interpretation, and
analysis of the profit-loss statement; pricing
factors used in buying decisions and the
calculations used when pricing and/or
repricing retail merchandise; the
calculations of the various types of markup;
procedure of determining the total value of
the stock-on-hand and shortages; the
planning and control of stocks and
purchases, as well as invoice mathematics |
| Merchandising Planning and Buying |
| Course Number |
BUS 310 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Methods, practices, and operations
conducted to promote and sustain certain
categories of commercial activity;
principles and procedures used in
planning, selecting, pricing, and selling
goods in retail stores; domestic and foreign
market purchasing; assessing product
needs. Students will learn merchandising
systems, assortment plans, and inventory
control methods. PREREQ: Introduction to
Business; M |
| Product Development |
| Course Number |
FSH 220 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
This course takes the students through the
preproduction processes of apparel product
development. Students will learn how to
coordinate planning, forecasting,
fabricating, developing silhouettes and
specifications, pricing, and sourcing. Also
covers the evolving partnerships among
textile suppliers, product developers,
manufacturers, and retailers. PREREQ:
Introduction to the Fashion Industry |
| Computer Applications |
| Course Number |
CSC 104 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Computer and Internet Basics; computer
hardware and software; digital electronics
and file management; introduction to
Windows®
; PC applications in word
processing, spreadsheets, and presentation
software. PREREQ: None |
| Earth Science |
| Course Number |
SCI 110 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Surveys a broad range of topics within
the fields of geology, meteorology,
oceanography, and astronomy. PREREQ: None |
| Introduction to Biology |
| Course Number |
SCI 120 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
An introductory course that explains the
origin of life and the relationships between
all living things. It describes how a
significant number of organisms are
structured and how they work, in order to
enable students to discuss intelligently the
various forms of life and their processes.
PREREQ: None |
| Nutrition |
| Course Number |
SCI 140 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Personal decision making about nutrition;
nutrition science; water; exercise; human
growth and aging; safety of the food
supply; the global view. PREREQ: None |
| Essentials of Psychology |
| Course Number |
SSC 130 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Biology and behavior; consciousness;
memory; thought and language;
intelligence; personality and gender; stress;
community influences. PREREQ: None |
| Art Appreciation |
| Course Number |
HUM 102 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Artistic media; historical periods and
artistic movements; roles of the artist and
the viewer; art criticism. PREREQ: None |
| English Composition |
| Course Number |
ENG 100 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
This course teaches the skills and
techniques of effectively developing,
drafting, and revising college-level essays
toward a specific purpose and audience:
active reading, prewriting strategies,
sentence and paragraph structure, thesis
statements, varied patterns of development
(e.g., illustration, comparison/contrast,
classification), critical reading toward
revision of structure and organization,
editing for the standard written
conventions, use and documentation of
outside sources. Students submit three
essays (process analysis, causal analysis,
argumentation) and a course journal.
PREREQ: None |
| Economics 1 |
| Course Number |
BUS 121 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
This course will provide an overview of
macroeconomics and the modern market
economy. Law of supply and demand, cost
of living, monetary systems, international
factors, and short run economic
fluctuations will be examined and
discussed. PREREQ: None |
| College Algebra |
| Course Number |
MAT 120 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
This course introduces students to basic
algebraic concepts. Topics covered include
the real number system, exponents,
scientific notation, equations of lines,
graphing, inequalities, absolute values,
polynomials, factoring polynomials, and
rational expressions. PREREQ: None |
| Business and Technical Writing |
| Course Number |
ENG 121 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Writing Styles; Abc Method Of Organizing Material; Grammar (parts Of Speech, Active And Passive Voice, Complete Sentences Vs. Sentence Fragments; Parallel Construction); Using Action Verbs; Constructing Paragraphs; Writing Memos, Business Letters, And Emails; Organizing Material; Conducting Research; Documenting Sources; Outlining; Providing Illustrations; Writing Reports, Proposals, Descriptions, Instructions, Articles, And Manuals. Prereq: None |
| Consumer Behavior |
| Course Number |
MKT 320 |
Influencing consumer behavior; consumer decision-making; effects on research and marketing; environmental influences; ethical responsibility |
| Internet Marketing and E-Commerce |
| Course Number |
INT 114 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Provides a concise introduction to electronic
commerce with balanced coverage of both
technology and business topics; contains a
comprehensive online companion that links
the concepts in the book to real online
examples; security, implementation, ethics,
and legal issues in electronic commerce;
case studies of real businesses. PREREQ:
Computer Literacy |
| Retail Management |
| Course Number |
MKT 340 |
| Credits |
3.0 |
Organization of retail stores; basics of retailing; management of a successful retail business; merchandising principles. |
Program description: The Fashion Merchandising
associate degree program provides
a thorough background in the
functional areas of retail management,
marketing, buying, fashion promotion,
product development, textiles, and
merchandising at the associate degree
level. The program prepares men and
women for a fashion merchandising
career. Typical areas in which a
graduate will have the necessary
academic background to enter the
field are merchandising, sales
management, marketing, e-commerce,
and retailing.
Students in this program must pass
the general education prerequisite credits
with a cumulative QPA of 1.6 in order
to be admitted to the full program.