---
title: Is an Educational/Instructional Media Design degree worth the debt?
cip: 1305
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is an Educational/Instructional Media Design degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Master's**, across **77** colleges (77 of 77 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $53,616 ($53,406 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $25,650 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.47× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $49,284–$60,213 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Master's | $53,616 | $25,650 | 0.47× | 77 | 77/77 |
| Doctoral | $74,818 | $76,454 | 0.96× | 4 | 4/4 |

## Where an Master's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Concordia University-Irvine (CA) | $81,489 | $20,500 |
| National University (CA) | $71,709 | $23,284 |
| Touro University (NY) | $70,849 | — |
| Long Island University (NY) | $70,751 | $31,250 |
| California State University-Long Beach (CA) | $69,588 | — |
| California State University-Monterey Bay (CA) | $69,186 | $14,540 |
| San Diego State University (CA) | $68,268 | — |
| Quinnipiac University (CT) | $66,858 | — |
| University of Massachusetts-Boston (MA) | $65,999 | — |
| New York University (NY) | $63,685 | — |
| Southern New Hampshire University (NH) | $63,302 | — |
| Grand Canyon University (AZ) | $62,516 | $22,495 |
| Teachers College at Columbia University (NY) | $62,426 | — |
| Utah State University (UT) | $62,367 | $23,965 |
| Northern Illinois University (IL) | $61,996 | $23,063 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/educational-instructional-media-design.jsonld` · `/education/fields/educational-instructional-media-design.json`