Instructional Design and Educational Technology

Designing how people learn — analysing needs, building courses and materials, choosing and evaluating technology, and measuring whether any of it worked. ⚠⚠⚠ In Florida it is a graduate field and almost nothing else: across the two CIP codes, public institutions awarded 978 credentials in 2023 and just SIX of them were bachelor's degrees. ⚠⚠ Which is why the undergraduate major question is genuinely open — you cannot major in this.

The degrees this program covers

⚠⚠⚠ SIX BACHELOR'S DEGREES IN THE ENTIRE STATE SYSTEM. Curriculum and Instruction (13.0301) produced 762 credentials at 10 Florida public institutions — 480 master's, 127 research doctorates, 67 postbaccalaureate certificates, 66 post-master's certificates, 22 professional doctorates, and NO bachelor's at all. Educational/Instructional Technology (13.0501) added 216 at 6 institutions — 162 master's, 27 postbaccalaureate certificates, 21 research doctorates and six bachelor's. ⚠ So this is a master's and certificate field, entered after some other degree, and that is the normal route rather than a compromise. ⚠⚠ THE POSTBACCALAUREATE CERTIFICATES ARE WORTH NOTICING: 94 across the two codes. They are the short route for someone already holding a degree and working — a teacher, a trainer, a subject expert — and they are much cheaper than the master's. Ask what a certificate qualifies you for in the sector you want, because the answer differs sharply between higher education and corporate work. ⚠⚠⚠ AND CHECK WHICH SECTOR THE PROGRAMME SERVES. Florida's programmes sit in colleges of education and are built around schools and universities. The larger and faster-growing employment is CORPORATE learning and development, where the federal occupation is Training and Development Specialists — 452,300 jobs against instructional coordinators' 232,600, and 78% of employers reporting a bachelor's as the entry requirement rather than a master's. ⚠ A degree aimed at the education sector is not wasted in industry, but it is not what industry screens on, which is a portfolio.

Careers this program leads to

Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end, and the sources behind it.

Film and Video Editor

⚠⚠⚠ The occupation everyone assumes is most exposed to generative AI is one where the federal handbook makes NO AI claim at all. BLS projects film and video editors and camera operators to grow 3% to 2035 and names robotic cameras, not AI. ⚠⚠ Editors $75,420, camera operators $74,990, 72,000 jobs, 5,600 openings a year — and 35% of them self-employed. ⚠ Miami Dade College alone awards 45% of Florida's film credentials.

Graphic Designer and Animator

⚠⚠⚠ This is the first occupation on this site where BLS names ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE as a reason for a projected decline. Graphic design is forecast to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035: "Automated design tools, such as artificial intelligence (AI), are projected to make graphic designers more productive and reduce the need for these workers." ⚠⚠ $62,960 median, 16,000 openings a year, 20% self-employed — and the animation half pays $102,030 with 63% self-employed.

Instructional Designer

⚠⚠⚠ One job title, two federal occupations pulling in opposite directions. Instructional coordinator: $77,440, 60% master's, growing 1–2%. Training and development specialist: $69,280, 78% bachelor's, twice the jobs, twice the openings, growing much faster than average. ⚠⚠ And you cannot major in it — Florida's public institutions awarded 978 credentials in this field and SIX were bachelor's degrees.

Journalist, PR Specialist and Communicator

⚠⚠⚠ Two occupations, one degree family, opposite directions. Journalists: 47,100 jobs, 3,400 openings a year, $62,200, projected to DECLINE 6%. Public relations specialists: 314,500 jobs, 23,000 openings, $74,750, growing. ⚠⚠ PR is nearly SEVEN times the occupation, pays $12,550 more and has nearly seven times the openings — and Florida trains eight communication graduates for every journalism one.

Careers that name this program, but not as a route

UX Designer and Web Developer

⚠ A real destination: EME6405 Educational Web Design is taught at four Florida universities, the field screens on a portfolio the same way, and training and development specialists number 452,300 with 43,900 annual openings and much-faster-than-average growth.

Programs similar to this one

Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers. ⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.

Teacher Education 37 Florida schools

⚠⚠ The commonest feeder by a long way — these programmes sit in colleges of education and are built around teachers moving into design, coaching and curriculum roles. ⚠ EME2040 Introduction to Technology for Educators is carried by 33 Florida public institutions, more than any other course in the prefix, and almost every Florida teaching student takes it.

Business Administration and Management 45 Florida schools

⚠⚠⚠ Named because the LARGER employer is corporate, not educational. Training and development specialists number 452,300 nationally against 232,600 instructional coordinators, grow much faster, and 78% of employers report a bachelor's rather than a master's as the entry requirement. ⚠ A business or communication background plus a portfolio competes perfectly well there.

Computer Science 16 Florida schools

⚠ Named for the production half of the work: authoring tools, web delivery, video, accessibility and learning analytics. ⚠⚠ Florida's graduate curriculum reflects it — EME6405 Educational Web Design, EME6209 Digital Video, EME6208 Interactive Media — and a technical background is a genuine advantage in a field with no required major.

Psychology 10 Florida schools

⚠ The discipline the field came out of: instructional design has its roots in applied learning psychology, and learning theory is the part that distinguishes a designer from a content producer. ⚠⚠ Psychology is taught at 33 Florida public institutions against this field's 10, so it is a far more available undergraduate starting point.

Counseling 8 Florida schools

⚠ Named only because both sit in colleges of education and students confuse the departments. They are unrelated work: counselling is licensed clinical or school practice, instructional design is unlicensed and portfolio-driven.

Graphic and Digital Design 41 Florida schools

⚠ A genuine and underadvertised destination for designers: EME6209 Digital Video and EME6208 Interactive Media are carried at five and three Florida universities, and instructional design screens on a portfolio exactly as design does. ⚠⚠ Training and development specialists number 452,300 with 43,900 annual openings and are growing much faster than average.

Film and Video Production 19 Florida schools

⚠⚠ A destination almost nobody in film considers, and it is a good one: EME6209 Digital Video is taught at five Florida universities, training and development specialists number 452,300 with 43,900 annual openings, and the work is salaried rather than freelance. ⚠ For an editor tired of project work, this is the obvious move.

Journalism, Public Relations and Communication 14 Florida schools

⚠ A destination for communication graduates that is growing rather than shrinking: training and development specialists number 452,300 with 43,900 annual openings against journalism's 3,400. ⚠⚠ The field screens on a portfolio and values exactly the explanatory writing journalism teaches.

Web and Interactive Design 34 Florida schools

⚠ A genuine destination: EME6405 Educational Web Design is carried at four Florida universities and instructional design screens on a portfolio in the same way. ⚠⚠ Training and development specialists number 452,300 with 43,900 annual openings.

Florida public institutions offering this program

10 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023, at these levels: Bachelor's, Doctorate (professional practice), Doctorate (research/scholarship), Master's, Post-master's certificate, Postbaccalaureate certificate. A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

Master's

Florida Atlantic University

Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Post-master's certificate · Postbaccalaureate certificate

Florida Gulf Coast University

Master's

Florida International University

Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Post-master's certificate

Florida State University

Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Post-master's certificate

University of Central Florida

Master's · Postbaccalaureate certificate

University of Florida

Doctorate (professional practice) · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Post-master's certificate · Postbaccalaureate certificate

University of North Florida

Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's

University of South Florida

Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Post-master's certificate

University of West Florida

Bachelor's · Doctorate (research/scholarship) · Master's · Post-master's certificate

Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only — the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023 will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.

Updated 22 September 2026. ⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.