Fashion MerchandisingAS DegreeCertificate of Achievement
- Community of interest
- Business, Cosmetology, Arts & Design
- Award
- AS Degree
- Program code
- 01348.00AS
- Department
- Fashion
- CIP code
- 19.0905: Apparel and Textile Marketing Management.
- TOP code
- 1303.20 - Fashion Merchandising*
Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP
Program Snapshot
- Community of interest
- BCAD Business, Cosmetology, Arts & Design
- Award
- AS Degree
- Program code
- 01348.00AS
- Department
- Fashion
- CIP code
- 19.0905: Apparel and Textile Marketing Management.
- TOP code
- 1303.20 - Fashion Merchandising*
Next Steps
AS Degree — expand to learn about this award
The Associate of Science is typically awarded for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Like every Butte College associate degree, it has two parts: a general-education curriculum that gives you a broad base of knowledge, and an academic program where you specialize.
About General Education. GE is an integrated program of learning designed to foster intellectual curiosity, cultural understanding, critical thinking, creative reasoning, oral and written communication, and the capacity for ethical reasoning. By graduation, you'll have developed the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, apply quantitative reasoning, understand how the major academic disciplines ask their questions, comprehend diverse cultures and historical periods, and assess ethical problems — alongside the depth you build in your major.
Semester-by-Semester Map
Term 1
Class Schedules
course details
This course is survey of business providing a multidisciplinary examination of how culture, society, economic systems, legal, international, political, financial institutions, and human behavior interact to affect a business organization's policy and practices within the U.S. and a global society. Students will learn about how this business context (including issues such as ethics and sustainability) influences the primary areas of business including: organizational structure and design; leadership, human resource management, organized labor practices; marketing; organizational communication; technology; entrepreneurship; legal, accounting, financial practices; the stock and securities market; and therefore affect a business' ability to achieve its organizational goals. (C-ID BUS 110).
Meets Graduation Requirement.
course details
This course is an introduction to the world of fashion and retailing through an in-depth study of the history of fashion, terminology, designers, apparel production and distribution, merchandising techniques, and career opportunities. Career development strategies including resumes, cover letters and interviewing will be addressed.
course details
This course introduces students to the history of clothing and costume including the influence of historic attire on current fashion apparel. The course examines the impacts of social class, religion and political conditions on expression through dress.
General Education: Area 1A
about Area 1A
English Composition
Baccalaureate-level academic writing — expository and argumentative. The foundation for every other course you'll write in.
General Education: Area 1B
about Area 1B
Oral Communication and Critical Thinking
Baccalaureate-level oral communication and/or critical thinking — speaking with structure to a live audience, analyzing arguments, identifying assumptions.
Term 2
Class Schedules
course details
This course is an examination of information and communication technologies used in today's businesses and the impact these technologies are having on today's workplaces. The course will include examination and application of a wide range of information and communication technology tools used to support and enhance business functions and processes. Focus will be placed on solving a variety of business problems, improving organizational productivity, and achieving the goals of business.
course details
This course provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between societal institutions and the critical issues of poverty and unemployment. Students will explore how economic theories and terms clarify the socio-economic challenges we face today. The curriculum examines the trade-offs and social values that influence both public and private policies, assessing their effectiveness in addressing these challenges. Through critical analysis, students will evaluate the performance of government, markets, and institutions, and their decisions regarding current economic problems such as unemployment, inflation, poverty, and environmental pollution. This course aims to deepen understanding of the complexities involved in organizing society to provide essential goods and services while highlighting the impact of economic structures on social outcomes.
course details
This course introduces students to fibers and their origin, yarns, basic weaves and fabric finishes, with reference to fabric selection for use in fashion and interior design. Emphasis is placed on the selection, use and care of new fibers and fabrics. The course also examines the impacts of textile laws, regulations and trade agreements.
General Education: Area 2
about Area 2
Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning
College-level mathematics or quantitative reasoning — the toolkit behind science, business, and informed citizenship.
General Education: Area 6
about Area 6
Ethnic Studies
The histories, experiences, and contributions of the four autonomous disciplines: Black / African American / Africana studies, Native American studies, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x studies, and Asian American studies.
Term 3
Class Schedules
course details
This course introduces personal selling concepts, processes and tools. It emphasizes the importance of ethical, professional conduct; an understanding of consumer behavior; needs-satisfaction selling; and effective two-way communication. Students learn how to find and qualify prospects; establish rapport; ask questions to determine customers' needs; present pertinent product/service features, advantages and benefits; overcome buyers' objections; and close the sale. Students will participate (as buyers, sellers and critical observers) in interactive sales presentations.
course details
This course introduces students to the basic concepts of visual merchandising. Utilizing basic techniques, students create miniature displays, interior displays, and full-scale window productions. Students study current trends and analyze local retail displays.
Select one:
General Education: Area 3
about Area 3
Arts and Humanities
How people and cultures, across time, respond to themselves and the world through artistic and cultural creative production. Visual and performing arts, art history, foreign languages, literature, philosophy, religion.
General Education: Area 5
about Area 5
Physical and Biological Sciences
The physical universe, its life forms, and its natural phenomena — astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology, oceanography, physics — taught alongside the scientific method that makes them work.
Term 4
Class Schedules
course details
This course introduces students to the process of buying fashion merchandise for ultimate purchase by consumers. Topics include the principles and practical application of fashion buying, the role of the fashion buyer and the techniques of handling the complete buying-selling cycle.
course details
This course introduces students to contemporary fashion productions including fashion shows, fashion videos, and retail promotions. Students will learn how to plan and produce various aspects of fashion promotions including event marketing, show staging, lighting, music, models, modeling, writing commentary, and directing rehearsals.
course details
Work experience is an experiential course where students apply what they have learned in the classroom to a work environment. The course offers students the opportunity to develop technical skills, explore possible career choices, build confidence, network with people in the field, and transition into the world of work. Work experience may include paid or unpaid employment. Students may earn one semester unit of college credit in this course for every fifty-one hours of work experience. Students may enroll in this course up to 8 unit(s) to complete the entire curriculum of the course. A maximum of sixteen units can be earned in work experience courses during a student’s enrollment with Butte College.
Prerequisite: Permission of Work Experience Education instructor and employment supervisor
General Education: Area 4
about Area 4
Social and Behavioral Sciences
The systematic study of people as members of society — cultural anthropology, cultural geography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology — and the methods these disciplines use to ask their questions.
Elective (any course numbered 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.
Career Connections
2-Year Degree Paths
Entry points students may pursue after associate-level study, technical preparation, or licensure pathways.
No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset point cleanly to an immediate 2-year outcome for this program.
4-Year Degree Paths
Roles that more often open up after transfer and a bachelor's degree.
Example roles: 3
- Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products
- Marketing Managers
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
Graduate School Paths
Advanced roles commonly associated with graduate, professional, or post-baccalaureate study.
No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset are grouped into the graduate-school pathway for this program.
Local Job Market
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm ProductsSOC 13-10226 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. 2
- Barnes & Noble Education 1
- Naked Wines 1
- Palisade Ttahoe 1
- Randa Corp 1
Where the postings are
- Long Island, Sacramento County 1
- North Sacramento, Sacramento County 1
- Olympic Valley, Placer County 1
- Reno, Washoe County 1
- Sierra, Washoe County 1
Sample current postings
Marketing ManagersSOC 11-20219 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- Edward Jones Careers 2
- Bank of America 1
- Butte County 1
- Kindthread 1
- Tcc Wireless Llc 1
Where the postings are
- Chico, Butte County 4
- Oregon, Butte County 2
- Chapmantown, Butte County 1
- Pennington, Sutter County 1
- Thermalito, Butte County 1
Sample current postings
Market Research Analysts and Marketing SpecialistsSOC 13-116111 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- Oracle 3
- Stifel 2
- Accenture 1
- Cardinal Health 1
- Central Business Solutions 1
Where the postings are
- Sacramento, Sacramento County 8
- Fairfield, Solano County 1
- Kenwood, Sonoma County 1
- Larkfield, Sonoma County 1
Sample current postings
Posting counts come from Adzuna's index of US job boards, covering the last up to 90 days within up to 100 miles of ZIP 95965. Coverage and salary visibility vary by employer. Empty searches expand the radius and posting window before the section gives up.
Source Notes
Course sequencing is generated from the Acadia Program Mapper cache. Career groupings use local CIP-to-SOC mappings and BLS occupation data when available. Confirm education plans with Counseling and Advising.
Live wage data was not available from the BLS helper for the mapped occupations, so some pay fields may be blank.
Last generated 2026-07-05T16:58+00:00