Multimedia Design

Types of Degrees Multimedia Design Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many web & multimedia design graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	1,456
Associate Degree	1,299
Bachelor’s Degree	1,053
Undergraduate Certificate	928
Master’s Degree	501
Graduate Certificate	27
Doctor’s Degree	2

What Multimedia Design Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to multimedia design were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Multimedia Design Majors

Multimedia Design majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• 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.

Skills for Multimedia Design Majors

When studying multimedia design, 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:

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Abilities for Multimedia Design Majors

A major in multimedia design will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Multimedia Design Major?

People with a multimedia design degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Graphic Designers	4.2%	$50,370
Multimedia Artists and Animators	8.4%	$72,520
Web Developers	14.9%	$69,430

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Multimedia Design?

The major attracts more women than men. About 67% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of multimedia design majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	132
Black or African American	54
Hispanic or Latino	133
White	360
International Students	300
Other Races/Ethnicities	74

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Multimedia Design. About 28.5% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Multimedia Design

Some degrees associated with multimedia design 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 multimedia design have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	1.5%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	5.8%
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)	8.8%
Some College Courses	14.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	12.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	53.7%
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	1.6%

Online Multimedia Design Programs

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)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	196	32
Certificate (2-4 Years)	16	5
Associate’s Degree	237	37
Bachelor’s Degree	17	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	20	6
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	3	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Multimedia Design

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to multimedia design.

Major	Number of Grads
Data Modeling/Warehousing & Database Administration	3,498
Computer Graphics	3,235
Other Computer Software & Media Applications	1,770
Modeling, Virtual Environments & Simulation	915

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 Negative Space under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.