Overview

Students in Northeastern University's Master of Professional Studies in Digital Media will build their skills and expertise while gaining familiarity with a variety of industry-standard and cutting-edge technologies and tools. The curriculum is organized around three types of experiences: core courses, concentration electives, and a final, hands-on project. Core courses provide a baseline for developing, marketing, and managing content-rich experiences, while electives strengthen skills in specialized areas of digital media. In your final project, you’ll work with the guidance of a faculty advisor on a personal proposal or with a small, focused team to channel your passion into a project that provides tangible evidence of your abilities.

Whether you are a full-time or part-time student, you can complete your degree while building meaningful working relationships with students from around the globe. Team-based assignments strengthen your project management and leadership skills and allow you to take part in the development of more complex media projects than you could by working alone. The team efforts will also prepare you for your future as a professional in digital media’s collaboration-oriented culture.

All courses in the program are offered at a Master’s level and form the basis of the degree program.

Canadian residents beginning their studies for the inaugural fall 2024 cohort are eligible for a scholarship of 25% or up to $10,000 CAD towards their total tuition for the duration of the program.

More Details

Unique Features

• Foundational courses provide intensive, hands-on guidance into the essential knowledge required for the MPS in Digital Media curriculum. After completing these, students move into the more advanced course requirements.
• Complete an in-depth capstone experience working under the guidance of a faculty advisor.
• Concentration options provide specialized focus on distinctive areas of digital media, such as game animation and narrative design, applied user experience design, and digital media management. Optional digital media workshops are also available.
• Cohort program format is designed to enhance collaboration and networking opportunities for students.

Program Objectives

• The cohort program format is experiential by nature and is designed to enhance collaboration and networking opportunities with students around the globe. The program offers hands-on experiences such as specialized technical workshops to help students learn the operational techniques for items like web development, game programming, and design software.
• Our signature experiential learning model combines academics with professional practice to help students gain relevant, real-world skills they can apply to their desired industry.
• Students can gain real-world experience through opportunities such as the Experiential Network (XN), which allows students to work virtually with a sponsoring organization on a short-term project over a six-week period.
• Students also complete an in-depth capstone experience working under the guidance of a faculty advisor.

Career Outlook

Employers are actively looking for digital media professionals with diverse backgrounds in social sciences, arts, music, biology, business, education, languages, and more. Advance in your current field or pivot to a new career in digital media and technology. Vancouver offers an extremely favorable employment outlook in tech—especially for professionals specializing in digital media:

• Vancouver is the #1 VFX and animation hub in the world (2020) according to Variety, 2021. (Vancouver Economic Commission)
• Vancouver is the third largest film and TV production center in North America. (Vancouver Economic Commission, 2022)
• Vancouver leads North America for high-tech job growth (+26%) over 2021–2022. (CBRE, 2023 Tech-30 report)
• The Government of B.C.'s 10-year labor market outlook forecasts 4,600+ expected job openings for web designers and developers and 13,000+ expected job openings for computer programmers and interactive media developers from 2022–2023. (WorkBC)

Learning Outcomes

1. Specialized Knowledge
   Design and produce interactive websites and application prototypes, incorporating a variety of digital media based on established human-computer interaction principles, theory, and research.
2. Integrative Knowledge
   Assess broad communication and entertainment project goals to then design a variety of interactive digital media projects, drawing on the perspectives and methods of several interrelated creative fields.
3. Applied and Collaborative Learning
   Apply digital media narrative principles and a range of technologies and visual, design, and programming ideas to provide creative and timely solutions for practical digital media challenges.
4. Civic and Global Learning
   Develop a formal proposal, real or hypothetical, addressing a challenge or opportunity in cross-cultural and global information and communication.
5. Experiential Learning
   Synthesize and transfer learning to new, complex situations within coursework or beyond the classroom.

Important Note

Please note: Beginning fall 2026, this program will shift from a quarter-based academic calendar to a semester format. View the program conversion guide for curriculum details or visit our FAQ page for more information.

If you enter this program before fall 2026, your academic advisor will work with you to ensure a smooth transition. This change will not impact your academic progress, path to graduation, or tuition costs.

Accreditations:

This program is offered under the written consent of the Minister effective August 29, 2025, having undergone a quality assessment process and been found to meet the criteria established by the Minister. Nevertheless, prospective students are responsible for satisfying themselves that the program and the degree will be appropriate to their needs (for example, acceptable to potential employers, professional licensing bodies, or other educational institutions).

The term “university” is used under the written consent of the Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills effective May 9, 2024, having undergone a quality assessment process and been found to meet the criteria established by the Minister.