Instructional Design Programs

After deciding to pursue a master's degree in instructional design, it was time to start doing homework to figure out which program would best suit my needs. There were a few things I was looking for:
1. It would have to be worthwhile. I would not be doing this just to get a degree, I would actually have to be developing my knowledge and skills.
2. It would have to be completed while working full-time at my career. This made online programs a lot more attractive.
3. It would have to be accredited, so it would be accepted by future employers and customers.
4. It would have to be affordable on my family's budget.
After completing a lot of research and speaking to other instructional designers, I focused on five different instructional design programs. These included Indiana University, Florida State University, Virginia Tech, Boise State University, and California State University at Fullerton.
These are all very good programs, but out-of-state tuition prices put many of these out of reach for me. I initially gravitated towards CSU Fullerton because it would be more affordable, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it.
The Fullerton program is very well-regarded, and it is a Master's of Science in Instructional Design and Technology. This means that it focuses on the basics of instructional design, but also brings many elements of online learning into the mix, which is the way of the future. This program puts together small cohorts of 25 to 30 students that take the same courses at the same time over a period of 20 months (five 12-week sessions with a total of 10 courses). The program relies heavily on discussion boards and collaboration with others, both of which are extremely important things to practice for today's instructional design community.
And, the CSUF program only required two days on campus, with the rest of the work to be done online. If I got accepted to the program, I could start in August of 2014 and finish up in May of 2016. This looked like my best choice (not that there were any bad ones), so I figured out what was needed to apply and started the process.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I will talk about the application process.
Thank you!