Would you like to attend one of India’s top ten design schools in 2025? If so, you probably already know that India has about 2,242 design colleges that provide graduate and postgraduate courses in a range of design disciplines.
If you want to enroll in a design degree at one of the top 10 design colleges in India, you must possess a creative flair and outstanding time management abilities to produce high-quality work in the shortest amount of time.
If you meet the admission requirements, you can get into one of the best design schools in India, such as MIT Institute of Design Pune, Amity University Noida, NIFT Mumbai, or NID Ahmedabad. This entails excelling in your 12th-grade board exams and earning good scores on a variety of national or state-level design entrance exams, such as the NID Entrance Exam, NIFT Entrance Exam, UCEED, CEED, and others.
The admission criteria and fee for each college depend on whether it is private or government. You might be surprised to know that only 497 out of a total of 2,242 design colleges are government, while the rest are private design institutes. Generally, the students have to shell out thousands to lakhs of rupees to complete design education in India. Let’s learn about the top 10 design colleges in India in 2025.
Top 10 Design Colleges in India: Fees, College Type & Ranking
| IIRF Rank | College Name | Type | Average Annual Fees (INR) |
| 1 | National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad | Government | ₹2,00,000 – ₹2,50,000 |
| 2 | National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Delhi | Government | ₹2,50,000 – ₹3,00,000 |
| 3 | Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT Bombay | Government | ₹2,00,000 – ₹2,50,000 |
| 4 | Department of Design, IIT Guwahati | Government | ₹2,00,000 – ₹2,50,000 |
| 5 | Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology | Private | ₹5,00,000 – ₹6,00,000 |
| 6 | MIT Institute of Design | Private | ₹4,00,000 – ₹5,00,000 |
| 7 | Pearl Academy | Private | ₹5,00,000 – ₹6,00,000 |
| 8 | National Institute of Design (NID) Bengaluru | Government | ₹2,00,000 – ₹2,50,000 |
| 9 | National Institute of Design (NID) Kurukshetra | Government | ₹2,00,000 – ₹2,50,000 |
| 10 | Department of Design, IIT Delhi | Government | ₹2,00,000 – ₹2,50,000 |
Top Design Courses in India: Eligibility & Entrance Exam
| College Name | Popular Courses | Eligibility & Entrance Exam |
| National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad | B.Des, M.Des | 10+2 for B.Des, Graduate for M.Des; NID DAT |
| National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Delhi | B.Des, M.FTech, M.Des | 10+2 for B.Des, Graduate for M.FTech and M.Des; NIFT Entrance Exam |
| Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT Bombay | B.Des, M.Des, Ph.D. in Design | 10+2 for B.Des (UCEED), Graduate for M.Des (CEED) |
| Department of Design, IIT Guwahati | B.Des, M.Des, Ph.D. in Design | 10+2 for B.Des (UCEED), Graduate for M.Des (CEED) |
| Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology | B.Des in Visual Communication, M.Des | 10+2 for B.Des, Graduate for M.Des; SEAT |
| MIT Institute of Design | B.Des, M.Des | 10+2 for B.Des, Graduate for M.Des; MITID DAT |
| Pearl Academy | BA in Communication Design, Fashion Design, and Interior Design | 10+2 for UG programs; Pearl Academy Entrance Exam |
| National Institute of Design (NID) Bengaluru | M.Des | Graduate in any discipline; NID DAT |
| National Institute of Design (NID) Kurukshetra | B.Des | 10+2 in any stream; NID DAT |
| Department of Design, IIT Delhi | B.Des, M.Des | 10+2 for B.Des (UCEED), Graduate for M.Des (CEED) |
Top Design Colleges in India: Average Salary Package
| College Name | Popular Courses | Average Salary Package (INR) | Placement Rate (%) |
| National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad | B.Des, M.Des | ₹12 – ₹15 Lakhs per annum | 95% |
| National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) Delhi | B.Des, M.FTech, M.Des | ₹5 – ₹7 Lakhs per annum | 90% |
| Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT Bombay | B.Des, M.Des, Ph.D. in Design | ₹10 – ₹12 Lakhs per annum | 93% |
| Department of Design, IIT Guwahati | B.Des, M.Des, Ph.D. in Design | ₹9 – ₹11 Lakhs per annum | 92% |
| Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology | B.Des in Visual Communication, M.Des | ₹4 – ₹6 Lakhs per annum | 85% |
| MIT Institute of Design | B.Des, M.Des | ₹6 – ₹8 Lakhs per annum | 88% |
| Pearl Academy | BA in Communication Design, Fashion Design, and Interior Design | ₹3 – ₹5 Lakhs per annum | 80% |
| National Institute of Design (NID) Bengaluru | M.Des | ₹10 – ₹12 Lakhs per annum | 90% |
| National Institute of Design (NID) Kurukshetra | B.Des | ₹8 – ₹10 Lakhs per annum | 87% |
| Department of Design, IIT Delhi | B.Des, M.Des | ₹9 – ₹11 Lakhs per annum | 91% |