Instructional Media Design

Types of Degrees Instructional Media Design Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many instructional media design graduations there were in 2018-2019 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	5,656
Graduate Certificate	935
Doctor’s Degree	199
Bachelor’s Degree	83
Associate’s Degree	82
Basic Certificate	60
Undergraduate Certificate	48

What Instructional Media Design 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

This major prepares you for careers in which these 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

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:

• 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 a instructional media major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• 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 Bachelor’s Degree in Instructional Media Design?

This is one of the most frequently chosen teaching majors. It is the 11th most popular in the country with 83 students graduating with a bachelor’s in instructional media in 2019. This major is dominated by women with about 58% 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	2
Black or African American	16
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	51
International Students	4
Other Races/Ethnicities	9

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Instructional Media. About 4.8% 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?

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.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Instructional Media Design

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.

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 2018-2019 academic year, 322 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)	22	6
Certificate (1-2 years)	4	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	1
Associate’s Degree	6	0
Bachelor’s Degree	111	67
Post-Baccalaureate	22	6
Master’s Degree	256	169
Post-Master’s	32	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	36	13
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!

Majors Related to Instructional Media Design

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

Major	Number of Grads
Teacher Education Grade Specific	100,925
Educational Administration	44,381
Teacher Education Subject Specific	43,516
General Education	31,066
Special Education	30,639
Curriculum & Instruction	18,767
Student Counseling	13,679
Other Education	5,503
Teaching English or French	5,407
Multilingual Education	1,636
Teaching Assistants	1,591
Educational Assessment	1,532
Education Philosophy	634
International Education	400

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.