Wayne State College offers over 130 programs of study and is well known in Nebraska for its teaching and educational programs. In addition to these, WSC offers the fashion merchandising major, a versatile degree that offers broad possibilities for future careers.

Fashion is the fourth largest industry in the world, presenting enormous opportunities for students that graduate with the major at WSC. There are current students who are making a name for themselves and the college.

“We have a current student, Mackenzie Esch, who will be graduating in the spring,” Dr. Mary Elliot, a fashion merchandising faculty member said. “Last year she produced a line of clothes and entered it into the Omaha Fashion Week and was selected, so her line of clothing walked the run way.”

The Omaha Fashion Week is the fifth largest fashion week in the nation. It is a great achievement for a student to get selected into a major show like the one in Omaha especially from a school with a very small fashion major.

Besides learning about design and fashion, the students are also required to complete business courses to earn their degree. Even if they decide to pursue a career outside of the fashion industry, WSC students will always have the business knowledge to fall back on.

“I know currently some of the students are planning to go back to their hometown after they graduate and open their own business,” Elliot said. “One student has told me that she would like to work for a larger corporation like Dillard’s or one of the department store lines and try to get into the buyer office.”

There are currently 10 students majoring in fashion merchandising and they all have an opportunity to pursue different future career plans such as starting a business, doing retail business online, working for a large corporation, or operating as a buyer or merchandise manager.

“I think I want to design for a company,” Kolbie Foster said. “I don’t want to open my own business because it seems like a lot of work. I would like to be a designer or maybe a buyer.”

Foster and Tais Finx are two students majoring in fashion and they are planning on going two different directions.

“I’m thinking about opening my own boutique or franchising a fashion store, but it would be my dream to one day to have my own fashion line or fashion brand.’’ Finx said.

Dr. Elliot is working right now with a student who is not planning on graduating from WSC but wants to continue her degree at FIT (Fashion institute of Technology) in New York City, the number one fashion school in the nation. The process of being accepted into FIT is exclusive and students need to apply with a portfolio.

“We know criminal justice and education, but Fashion is one of those unheard majors,” Elliot said. “I would love to get the word out and see if anyone might be interested.”