Design Colleges in Mumbai - Courses, Fees, Admissions 2026, Cutoff, Placements

The table below shows the top government Interior Designing colleges in Maharashtra along with their tuition fees and accepted entrance exams:

Public/Government Colleges	Tuition Fee	Entrance Exams
SNDT College Admission	INR 46,000 – INR 2 lakh	Merit-based
Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University Admission	INR 15,000 – INR 42,000	Merit-based
Garware Institute of Career Education and Development Admission	INR 2 Lacs – INR 4 lakh	Merit-based
Premlila Vithaldas Polytechnic (PVP Mumbai) Admission	INR 18,000	Merit-based
Government Polytechnic College, Nashik Admission	INR 18,000	Merit-based

The NIFT exam is among the competitive and is also considered among the toughest. So, it is recommended that the candidate starts their exam preparation early. NIFT exam has various components like written exam and Situation Test /Personal Interview. Candidates seeking admission to the B. Des and M.Des courses need to prepare for both the CAT and GAT. The CAT is a drawing-based exam. Now unless the candidate is already well-versed, the exam will be very difficult. So, start early. The same goes for the GAT.

To give oneself a higher chance of securing a good rank in NID DAT, it is important to use good-quality books a reference material.

 Here are some of the best books recommended by experts and previous rank holders to prepare for the NID DAT exam.

• NID (B. Des. ). Entrance Books and Test Series by AFAINDIA
• Basic Rendering by Robert W. Gill
• Design drawing by Francis D. K. Ching
• NIFT/NID/IIFT Entrance Exam Guide by RPH Editorial Board 

There is a lot of scope for interior designing in today’s world and the scope of interior designing is only set to grow, especially in India, which is an emerging market with excellent growth prospects across a range of artistic and creative fields. Interior designing is one of the creative fields expected to show high growth given the fact that the construction and interior designing industry is expected to continue to maintain its high growth trajectory over the coming years. Therefore, the scope of interior designing in India, as well as the scope of interior designing abroad, looks set to have high growth and to be an excellent career choice for deserving and hardworking creative individuals.

Pearl Academy Mumbai is famous for its location. Being located in Mumbai, there are multiple opportunities available for the students. Hence, after completing eucation from this college, there will be multiple opportunities available for students. Pearl Academy Mumbai, has been ranked 7th by The Week 2025 for Design & 20th by The Week 2025 under the Fashion Design category.  The Mumbai Pearl University annual graduating event PORTFOLIO gives a grand platform to the Design, Business, Fashion & Media students to show their work in the presence of various academicians, designers, & industry mentors & also the guests from the corporate.

The NID Entrance Exam is considered to be one of the toughest design entrance exam conducted in the country. In NID DAT, more weightage is given to subjective, drawing related questions. Thus, candidates need to be extremely creative and have a clear understanding of their concepts when appearing for the NID exam.

For preparing the final results for the  B. Des program, the DAT Prelims will be allocated 40% weightage, while DAT Mains will be given 60%.

During the DAT Mains, which comprises a Studio Test, the candidate is tested hands-on and have to show their drawing abilities, creativity, innovativeness, and material-handling ability.

The eligibility criteria for the best Interior Design course in Maharashtra do vary from institute to institute. But the basic eligibility criteria that is followed by most Interior Design colleges in Maharashtra has been mentioned below:

• For Diploma Courses: Students must have completed their class 10 from a recognised board.
• For UG: Candidates must have completed their class 12 along with any interior designing entrance exams to be considered eligible for most of the colleges.
• For PG: Candidates must have graduated an interior designing course from a recognised board to be considered eligible for most Interior designing schools in Hyderabad.

Disclaimer: This information is sourced from official website and may vary. 

Here are some technical skills you will need to be a good Interior Designer:

• Using 3D Interior Design modelling tools.
• Precision sketching to know how to communicate your Interior Design ideas.
• Computer-Aided-Design (CAD).
• Architectural detailing and building codes.

The table below shows the average placement package offered by top recruiters who participated in best colleges for Interior Designing in Maharashtra:

College Names	Average Placement Package	Top Recruiters
Symbiosis Institute of Design Placements	INR 9 LPA	Post Card India, Design Horse, Light Forms, Starfish Growth partners, etc.
Amity University, Mumbai Placements	INR 6 LPA	HCL, Airtel, TCS, Infosys, Amazon, Deloitte, Wipro,  Samsung, etc.
Sandip University, Nashik Placements	INR 2 LPA – INR 5 LPA	Accenture, Airtel, Amazon, Flipkart, HDFC Bank, etc.
SNDT College Placements	INR 2 LPA	Kotak Mahindra Bank, Accenture, TCS, Capgemini, Infosys, etc.

ITM IDM offers a range of BDes programs that align creative passions with career ambitions. The BDes specialisations include:

• Animation & VFX
• UX Design
• Visual Communication
• Fashion Design
• Interior Design

Each of these programs are embedded with AI as the core, ensuring students are trained on evolving tools that prevent them from being replaced by AI.

Design is basically a plan or a specification that is used to construct an object or an activity that leads to making a prototype, product, or even a process flow. In other words, design is anything that is used to ensure that an idea becomes more presentable and understandable to the consumers.

Design courses can be pursued in a number of specialisations. They expand the growth prospects of the candidate and enable them to increase their pay scale. These courses are offered at Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Doctorate levels. In addition to this, there are numerous Diploma courses and online certificates in India to train students in specific skills they need. Moreover, due to the evergrowing demand of this industry, multiple specialisations are offered across various colleges. Candidates can pursue short-term or long-term courses in this field and establish career in Designing. Read Design Specialisations.

The BDes course is an interesting combination of both creativity, aestheticism, and a technical skill set. Creativity surely takes the lead where you have to put your innovative aptitude, conceptual thinking, and storytelling skills to use and come up with creative designs, be it fashion, graphics, industrial, or product designs.

Alongside, you also learn about new tools and technologies like AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, etc., to be able to bring those abstract ideas to life.

Hope this helps!!!

To put it simply, it depends. You have to have a strong portfolio, a genuine interest in your niche and some relevant internships and projects. 

The field of design by nature is vast. Since creativity has no bounds, so do the opportunities. Once you get in the industry, even at the entry-level pay and role there's only going forward from that point on.

You have scope in fields like - Graphic Design, Interior Design, Fashion Design, Footwear Design and many more in both India and international set-ups. 

Yes, the Industrial Design Centre IIT Bombay is a good college. It runs at the Indian Institute of Technology offering excellent education in academics and research in design. They are ranked 5 out of 30 colleges in India in 2022 by IIRF in the design category. 

They offer courses in Industrial Design, Visual Communication, Interaction Design, Animation and Mobility & Vehicle Design. They have a huge campus of 72 acres providing a great infrastructure and environment.

IIT Bombay tuition fee costs around INR 21,300 - INR 14.9 L. The fee excludes other components including application fee, examination fee, security deposit, etc. The fee is taken from the official website. It is still subject to change. Candidates must check the official website before applying.

Yes, SNDT College accepts entrance exams for Master of Business Administration admission. SNDT College considers the score of national level aptitude tests such as SNAP/CAT/GMAT/XAT or any other equivalent exam for Master of Business Administration admission. The final selection for admission to the Master of Business Administration programme at SNDT College is based on the candidate's performance in the entrance exam, followed by group discussion and personal interview. The final selection is based on the candidate's overall performance in all these rounds.

K J Somaiya School of Engineering is one of the eminent school for Engineering in Mumbai. The school has been ranked under various category such as India Today, Times, The Week, and others. Below mentioned are the KJSSE rankings:

Ranking Body	Category	Rank
Times Ranking 2025	BTech	18
India Today 2025	BTech	41
The Week 2025	BTech	47

Thakur College of Engineering and Technology is a good institution for B.Voc, B.Des, M.E./M.Tech, B.E. / B.Tech courses, and these programs are delivered by highly experienced faculty. Major specialisation at Thakur College of Engineering and Technology are Software Development, Computer Science Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering.

Panache Academy, is a private academy for Air Hostess, Hospitality, and Travel & Tourism. Located in Ahmedabad, the academy is recognised by the UGC and certified by ISO 9001-2008 & the CIAC as well as by Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat (KCG).The institute is affiliated with Gujarat University. There are more branches of Panache Academy, which are located in Goa, Vadodara and Indore.

The institute offers undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma, and certification programmes and the courses include Diploma in Airlines/ Hospitality/ Tourism, BBA-Airlines/Tourism/Hospitality Management, Certificate in Cabin Crew Training, Certificate in Airport Management& Airport Ground Staff, Certificate in Hotel Management, Finishing Course in English/ Personality Development / Groomimg, and MBA- Airlines / Tourism / Hospitality Management.

Particulars	Statistics
Recognised by	UGC
No. of courses	8
No. of the students placed	3,000+
Affiliating University	Gujrat University, Dr.Baba Saheb Ambedkar University, etc.
Top Recruiters	Emirates, Qatar Airways, Indigo, Spicejet, Vistara, Go Air, Taj Hotel, etc.
Students enrolled	8,500+
Certified Teachers	46

 

The Colleges have a good placement record of around 100% placement. Some of the major recruiting companies are: British Airways | Cox and Kings | Emirates | Etihad | Flamingo | hilton | IndiGo Airlines | Jet Airways | Kuoni Travels | Lufthansa | marriott hotels | oberoi | Qatar Airways | Radisson | Sheraton Hotels | Singapore Airlines | Spicejet | Taj Group of Hotels | Thomas Cook | Vistara

Faculty:8/10

Placement:7/10

Social Life:7/10

Course:8/10

Hostel:7/10

Campus Life:8/10

 

So it can be regarded as one of the best institutions in Mumbai.

 

Yes, there is no entrance test for any of SASMIRA's courses such as BDes, Diploma, and Certificate programmes in their Institute of Design and Textiles. One gets some merit-based admission followed by offline consultation. The candidates should be able to fulfill the minimum requirement of the course one wants to pursue. There is final selection on the basis of merit list after consultation.

Whistling Woods International is not a government college it is instead a private institute founded in 2006 by the celebrated Filmmaker Subhash Ghai. Students will find his unmissable mark upon the courses, curriculum and methodology adopted by the college throughout its lifetime. Interested students can learn more about the history of Whistling Woods International on its official website.

Yes, one can get direct admissions at St Xavier's College Mumbai through either their Management quota which usually covers 15% of available seats or through the special reservation for Christian Minority students which covers 50% of the remaining 85% seats. For the Christian Minority reservations must submit documentation such as a Baptism certificate.

No, there are no direct admissions in NMIMS School of Design. For admission in institute of NMIMS School of Design you need valid score and merit in NMIMS-DAT above 80 percentile and 60% aggregate in HSC are required to get selected. After passing studio test and interview round student get selected in NMIMS-SOD and also candidate have to performed well because college have very limited seats available for courses around 30 seats and college fees is around 17.8 lakh. Candidate can check admission, eligibility criteria and upcoming updates of course on shiksha.com or college official website (design.nmims.edu).

BITS Design School appoints well-trained and expert faculty members. The faculty focuses on therotical and practical training with years of experience in the related field. The institute has a mix of faculty with practitioners and academicians who will ignite the student's curiosity and talent. They engage the students with the latest activities and innovate teaching and quality research.