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Instructional Media Design Major

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Instructional Media Design

6,799 Master's Degrees Annually
205 Doctor's Degrees Annually
#32 in Popularity (Master's)
$52,270 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Instructional Media Design Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many instructional media design graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Master’s Degree 6,799
Graduate Certificate 1,383
Doctor’s Degree 205

What Instructional Media Design Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, instructional media majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Instructional Media Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

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  • 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

When studying instructional media, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

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  • 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

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a instructional media student include the following:

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  • 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 Design Major?

People with a instructional media degree often go into the following careers:

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 Design?

6,799 Master's Degrees Annually
75% Percent Women
22% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
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 75% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 197
Black or African American 478
Hispanic or Latino 615
White 4,549
International Students 250
Other Races/Ethnicities 710

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Instructional Media, too. About 3.7% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

  • China
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Korea
  • India
  • Taiwan

How Much Do Instructional Media Design Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

The U.S. Department of Education found that students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree in instructional media design made a median starting salary of $51,953 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $47,697 (25th percentile) and $58,471 (75th percentile).

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Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a instructional media degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Instructional Media majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $52,270 to $67,490 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for an Instructional Media Design Major  ( 52270 to 67490 )
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Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some degrees associated with instructional media may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

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.

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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 Design Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 355 schools offered some type of instructional media design program. 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) 3 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 5 0
Bachelor’s Degree 147 82
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 268 145
Post-Master’s 40 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 38 11
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 1 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Instructional Media Design Worth It?

The median salary for a instructional media grad is $52,270 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 31% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $247,400 after 20 years!

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

Major Number of Grads
Educational Administration 45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific 34,451
Special Education 25,158
General Education 21,189
Teacher Education Subject Specific 20,616
Curriculum & Instruction 19,784
Student Counseling 13,840
Teaching English or French 4,743
Other Education 2,513
Multilingual Education 1,672
Educational Assessment 1,215
Education Philosophy 421
International Education 257
Teaching Assistants 20

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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