Instructional Design Master's or Graduate Certificate Programs

Hi all,

My route to becoming an instructional designer involved earning a graduate level certificate from the University of Georgia. They offer an M.Ed. in Learning, Design, & Technology–Instructional Design and Development and graduate certificates–one in eLearning Design and one in Online Teaching and Learning. All of these can be fully completed virtually. Earning the eLearning Design certificate helped me land my first instructional design job and equipped me with the theoretical knowledge and technological skills necessary to excel in this role. 

It's a wonderful program with great faculty. They also partnered (and may still) with Articulate and provide students opportunities to expand their skills using the software while working on authentic, real-world projects. I was able to complete the certificate mostly for free since I was a UGA employee at the time, but I would have gladly paid the tuition for the quality education I received. I'm happy to answer any other questions anyone may have.

Hi everyone!

As I read all the responses below, I am amazed as to how many universities are out there that offer a graduate degree program for Instructional Design. My path into this field was unusual, but I am so excited to be here and am looking forward to what I can do in the future with this degree! 

I am currently a graduate student in the Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning (OPWL) program at Boise State University and I actually found out about this program through the U.S. Coast Guard. I was an officer in the Coast Guard for six years and sought an opportunity to be sponsored to attend a master's program in Human Performance Technology and the Coast Guard's recommended school was Boise State. Even though I wasn't selected to obtain my degree through sponsorship, I determined that it was still a path that I wanted to take, so I separated from service and have been enrolled in school ever since. Boise State's Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning offers a Master's degree and graduate certificates in Workplace Instructional Design, Workplace E-Learning Design and Development, and Workplace Performance Improvement. 

There are several amazing things about this program, and one that makes this program so accessible to its students is that it is completely online. It has actually been offering courses online since 1989, which is really amazing to think about! Another thing that this program does, which has helped me greatly, is how it has used the combination of theory and project based courses to help students really learn and the apply the material. Then to add on top of that, when we have a project based course, we get to work with real clients and go through the process, just like we would when we become instructional designers. So not only are we learning the material, but we are also practicing and becoming instructional designers before we enter the workforce. 

One last thing that I would like to mention which has helped me professionally is my current involvement in two labs within the OPWL department. I am a current member of the Marginalized and Cross Culture Research & Design Learning tech group (MarCC) and the Process Management Lab (PML). Both labs focus on two different aspects of the human performance field, but I am gaining knowledge, insight and wisdom from two amazing professors and other students and graduates that are involved! I think that anyone looking to getting a graduate degree or certificate should definitely look and consider the OPWL program at Boise State! 

Hi, all!

Like Chantel, I'm currently enrolled in Boise State University's Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning (OPWL) program. I'm currently pursuing my M.S. in OPWL and certificates in Workplace E-Learning Design and Development and Workplace Instructional Design. The program is fully online, which not only makes it possible for me to learn from my home base of Houston, TX, but also provides great insight into what it's like to be an online learner and to practice collaborating with peers remotely. 

I found my way into the program when I decided I wanted to shift from being a training facilitator at a Fortune 500 FinTech to an instructional designer. I was considering several programs, but when the VP of our division told me he "would never hesitate to hire someone with an OPWL degree from BSU," I was sold. The program has definitely lived up to its accolades. It is incredibly well-designed with professors who are excellent online learning facilitators. It also includes a great mix of theory, practical tool knowledge, networking, learning application through projects with real clients, personal portfolio development, and opportunities for additional research and practice. As an added bonus, the community of professors and learners is impressively strong for a distance learning program: I have had an incredible amount of support at all points in my journey. This experience and the OPWL community have boosted my experience, my confidence, and my credibility in the field. (I've now been an instructional designer at the same Fortune 500 company for 2 years.)

In short: I highly recommend Boise State's OPWL program - especially if you hope to work with online and distance learning. 

As we don't have any specific programmes for instructional design here in New Zealand - I'm keen to see what online program folks recommend.

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Thanks for sharing @Shannon! It's nice to know that the University of Georgia program is a good one.

And thanks for reaching out @Helen and @Lauren! I'm interested to see if anyone has any advice about courses that could work for people outside the US.

I attended online at University of Houston for M. Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction - Learning, Design & Technology

I enjoyed that most of the classes were project based and allowed me to learn about a variety of different edtech solutions. The only downside was that some classes tended towards K-12 topics, though I was teaching when I started the program so had that background.

University of Houston also offers a Master of Science in Human Resource Development. I'm not sure if it's available online, but includes classes like instructional design and e-learning design.

Thanks Allison for kicking this conversation off - I'm based in the UK and I'd love to hear what courses and programs other ID professionals have been on!

I pivoted to ID from K-5 Education by getting a Master's degree in Educational Technology (now known as Learning Deign and Technology, which is more appropriate, IMO), from from Texas A&M University. I see that they were ranked #9 by the 2021 US News and World Report on Educational/Instructional Media Design Programs.

What I liked best about the program was its clear emphasis on the science of multimedia learning, and the science of learning, in general.

What I wished we would have spent more time doing is learning how to use the authoring tools, but I get it from a logistical standpoint.

Before I even graduated, through contacts, I was asked to do a review on a Fortune 500's e-learning modules (one of the company's sites), which I did using Clark and Mayer's Principles. After that, they contracted me to create modules. They told me my master's degree was why they hired me, but I think I might have sold them if I would have had a really good portfolio and could explain how each aspect relates to multimedia and/or other learning principles.

I earned my M. Ed. in Learning Design and Technology at Winthrop University.  The program is 100% online and prepares you for both the Educational environment and the Corporate Training Environment. I was very pleased with the program and am now working as an Instructional Designer with a Fortune 100 company.

Thanks, nice post!