Design the future of learning
Earn your online master’s in learning design through a flexible, competency-based format. Build real-world skills in instructional design (also known as learning design) and advance your career by demonstrating what you know, on your timeline.
Build on what you already know
Whether you're an instructional designer looking to move into senior or systems-level roles, an educator ready to step into curriculum leadership, or a professional pivoting into learning and development, you're already doing this work. You've designed training, built courses, managed stakeholders, and navigated learning technologies. That experience doesn’t start over here. It moves forward.
This online master’s in learning design prepares you to design and improve how people learn across organizations. Through a competency-based format, you build and demonstrate skills used in instructional design roles.
The Learning Design master’s uses a competency-based model that recognizes what you already know. Demonstrate mastery and advance based on the skills you've already developed in practice.
Your knowledge. Your speed. Your degree.
How the program works
Progress by demonstrating mastery, not logging hours. Every competency is assessed through real-world design work, not exams, not seat time. Submit when you're ready. Receive feedback. Revise if needed. Advance when you've demonstrated what you know.
Build a portfolio employers can actually use. Every competency contributes to a professional-grade portfolio, including project plans, stakeholder documents, evaluation reports, and learning prototypes. By graduation you don't just have a degree. You have a body of work grounded in the contexts employers hire for: corporate L&D, higher education, and K–12.
Learn to lead, not just design. This program prepares you to manage stakeholders, strategy, risk, and implementation across entire learning ecosystems. Not just building courses, but leading the thinking behind them.
What sets the program apart
AI is part of the curriculum, not an afterthought. The instructional and learning design field is changing fast. The Learning Design master’s addresses that directly, teaching you how to critically evaluate and ethically integrate generative AI and emerging learning technologies into your professional practice. You'll graduate with sound professional design judgment, not just tool knowledge.
Faculty at the forefront of the field. Program leadership brings deep experience in learning design, publishes in peer-reviewed journals, holds editorial roles in leading industry publications, and actively shapes national and international conversations about instructional design, AI, and competency-based education. You're learning from people defining the field, not just teaching it.
Built for full-time professionals and full-time students alike. No required live sessions. Complete the program in as little as nine months or take up to two years. The structure works around your life, not the other way around.
Housed within KU's School of Education and Human Sciences, nationally ranked and fully accredited, the Learning Design master's carries the reputation of a flagship public research university with the flexibility of a program built from the ground up for working professionals.
Learn More about Learning Design Flex
Fill out the form to receive details about KU’s Learning Design Master of Science in Education program, including admissions requirements, tuition, and upcoming start dates.
How Jayhawk Flex works in Learning Design
In a traditional program, you learn concepts and complete assignments that simulate real work. Jayhawk Flex is built differently.
- Your work is the learning. Every competency is assessed through real-world instructional design projects—like learning prototypes, stakeholder plans, and evaluation strategies.
- You build a portfolio as you go. Each competency produces artifacts you can use professionally, so by graduation you don’t just have a degree—you have a body of work aligned with roles in corporate learning, higher education, and EdTech.
- You advance by demonstrating mastery. Submit your work when you're ready, receive feedback, and refine it until it meets professional standards.
- You don’t repeat what you already know. You may be able to move more quickly through competencies you've already developed in practice.
- You move at your own pace. No fixed class times or weekly deadlines—progress when your schedule allows.
- Tuition is structured around time, not courses. You pay a flat rate per term and can complete multiple competencies within that period—so your pace can directly impact your total cost.
The result: a degree built around the work you actually do—not separate from it.
Program details
Let’s get specific. Use the following resources to break down the details behind KU's Flex Online Learning Design Master of Science in Education.
Costs
You pay one flat rate per term, not per class or credit hour.
- $4,165 per 16-week term (Fall and Spring)
- $2,083 per 8-week term (Summer)
Enrollment is structured as full-time for each term, allowing you to complete as many competencies as you’re able within that period.
Because tuition isn’t tied to individual courses, your total cost depends on how quickly you move through competencies.
Make more progress in a term, and you may need fewer terms overall.
Funded Pathways to Get You Started
Financial aid and funding options are available for the online master’s in learning design — because advancing your career in learning and development shouldn’t be out of reach.
Employer tuition assistance is common for professionals working in corporate training, higher education, and L&D roles, and the program is structured to support learners whose employers contribute to continuing education. Federal financial aid is available for qualifying students, including those enrolled in online programs. Veterans and military-affiliated learners may be eligible for VA education benefits and military tuition assistance. Financial aid eligibility and options can vary, and our team can help you understand what may be available based on your situation.
Admission
Applications for the Learning Design master’s open May 5, with a final deadline of August 13. The program begins August 25, 2026. Admissions are reviewed on a rolling basis, so applying earlier is encouraged.
To apply, you’ll submit official transcripts from your previous college or university, along with a short statement outlining your academic background, professional experience, and career goals in instructional design.
The program is designed for a wide range of learners, including working professionals, career changers, and recent graduates. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and a minimum GPA of 3.0 are recommended. Applicants below a 3.0 may be considered based on the strength of their overall experience and credentials.
Additional requirements may apply for international applicants, including proof of English proficiency.
Curriculum
The Flex program is specifically designed with working professionals in mind. All of the curriculum is online, ready for you to study at your own pace.
It all counts toward your master's
The work you've done, the courses you've built, the training you've designed, the learners you've helped, that's real expertise already developed through your work. At Jayhawk Flex, it counts toward your degree. Build on everything you've already done and design the future of learning systems, environments, and experiences on your terms.
How flexible is online learning at KU?
KU’s online degree programs are designed with your busy schedule in mind and offer the flexibility to study wherever — and often whenever — is most convenient for you. Our online courses are taught by the same highly regarded faculty and expert instructors, and contain the same rigorous curriculum and instruction as our on-campus programs.