About This Program
An information architecture education like this is going to form extremely prepared students for the workforce. Graduates will be well prepared for careers in information architecture, library sciences, user experience (UX) designers or researchers, and more. The specific concentration you choose will dictate what type positions you are especially qualified for, making it the perfect choice for individuals with particularly focused goals in mind.
This IA program is online (unless you do the Knowledge Management concentration) and gives students the option to choose a concentration or else combine it and pursue a dual Masters in Library and Information Science. If you are already a Bachelor's student at Kent State, you can even apply for early admission to this Master's IA program. The most notable feature of this IA program is that you can tailor it to your personal and professional goals.
The core courses and possible electives depend on the concentration you choose. For those concentrating on Knowledge Management, they will have to take 18 hours: Foundational Principles of Knowledge Management, Knowledge Assessment and Evaluation, The Information and Knowledge Economy, Communities of Practice, Organizational Learning 3, and Knowledge Organization Structures, Systems, and Services.
For the UX concentration, the core courses are a total of six hours in User Experience Design Principles and Concepts, and User Experience Design in Practice. The remaining hours will be fulfilled via specialist courses. For the Health Informatics concentration, 21 hours' of core courses are required: Health Informatics Management, Legal Issues in Health Information Management, Health Information Systems, Health Records Management, Clinical Analytics, Foundational Principles of Knowledge Management, and Knowledge Organizational Structures, Systems, and Services. The remaining 12 credits are electives.
The Master of Science in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management can take as little as two years. The online structure is flexible and can work for anyone, whether they already work full-time or are simply located far away.
This is the perfect information architecture program for someone who is well aware of what specific route they would like to focus on since it is a more specialized program rather than serving as a broader, more general education. Its key advantage is its flexibility, including flexibility in courses, in concentration, and in timing.
Tuition for the UX concentration will be around $25,000 for the entire program (36 credit hours). With a concentration in Health Informatics, the tuition will be around $26,000, and with a Knowledge Management concentration (which is in person) it will cost around $11,300 for residents, $20,396 for non-residents, or $18,544 for international students. The School of Information has accreditation from the ALA (American Library Association) and will be reviewed again in fall 2018.
