Instructional Media

Types of Degrees Instructional Media Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many instructional media design graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	6,792
Graduate Certificate	1,337
Doctor’s Degree	233

What Instructional Media Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to instructional media and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Instructional Media Majors

Instructional Media majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Skills for Instructional Media Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to instructional media:

• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Abilities for Instructional Media Majors

As you progress with your instructional media degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Can You Do With a Instructional Media Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with instructional media:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Audio-Visual and Multimedia Collections Specialists	8.8%	$49,600
Instructional Coordinators	10.5%	$64,450
Instructional Designers and Technologists	10.5%	$64,450

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Instructional Media?

Instructional Media Design runs middle of the road when it comes to popularity, ranking #32 out of all the graduate majors we track. In 2021, about 6,799 graduates completed their master’s degree in this field. This major is dominated by women with about 76% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of instructional media majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	246
Black or African American	498
Hispanic or Latino	753
White	4,366
International Students	350
Other Races/Ethnicities	579

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Instructional Media, too. About 5.2% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Instructional Media

Some degrees associated with instructional media may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to instructional media have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	1.4%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	4.9%
Some College Courses	4.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.5%
Bachelor’s Degree	28.2%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.5%
Master’s Degree	47.9%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	4.3%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.7%
Doctoral Degree	4.9%

Online Instructional Media Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	4	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	3	0
Bachelor’s Degree	160	94
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	282	158
Post-Master’s	43	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	41	13
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Instructional Media

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to instructional media.

Major	Number of Grads
Teacher Education Grade Specific	106,652
Educational Administration	43,921
Teacher Education Subject Specific	40,101
Special Education	34,843
General Education	27,845
Curriculum & Instruction	20,472
Student Counseling	14,512
Teaching English or French	5,030
Other Education	4,693
Educational Assessment	4,249
Teaching Assistants	2,942
Multilingual Education	1,654
Education Philosophy	959
International Education	317

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Antanana under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.