Media + Information
Welcome to Your Future
Media and Information
Research Design Impacts
Media & Information Master's (In Person)
- Focus areas include game design, UX, media policy
- Work closely with advisors and faculty
- Join research labs, consortiums and projects
- Access to world class research lab facilities
- Classes are at the MSU campus
- Opportunities for scholarships and research support
Read below to learn more
User Experience Master's Program (Online)
- Entirely online and asynchronous
- Coursework designed by UX experts
- MS degree focused on career growth
- Small courses for individualized attention
- Comprehensive approach, from UX discovery through product assessment
Serious Games Certificate (Online)
- Three course certificate
- Classes are entirely online
- Learn game theory, games research methods, and game design principles
- Using games in education, business, healthcare, and more
Media & Information
In Person Program
We are currently accepting applications for the Fall 2025 (starting August 2025) cohort. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis, so complete your application early. Last date for applications for fall 2025 is March 1st, 2025. Click here for more details about the application process.
Media and Information technologies are fueling many changes in the world today. Internet and communications technologies have transformed how we work, communicate, and interact with each other. Our residential master’s program offers students the opportunity to develop skills and expertise in these growth areas.
We have several areas of expertise: HCI/UX, Game Design, Media Policy, and Information Studies. Students can focus deeply on one track, or work with their advisor to combine elements from several tracks and construct a personalized plan of study. This traditional, resident program has small and engaging classes. Our students experience the benefits of a traditional in person program and interact with leading researchers and educators.
Our globally recognized program is a STEM approved major. In our small classes students have the opportunity to gain research skills that are applicable across many industries and focus areas. See our page for prospective students for more detailed information.
The master’s degree is 30 credits. Our program allows students to take classes full time or part time. Classes are small and allow intense learning and mentoring from faculty, who are leaders in their fields. Click here to learn more about classes recommended for each focus area. Most students take about 3 semesters of full time classes to complete the program. The time to complete the program varies based on internships, final project complexity, or specializations.
Our student cohort is small enough, about 50 people, to get to know the professors well. Many of our students get involved in our research labs and work on exciting research projects. Our program is highly ranked, so it is quite competitive to be accepted. See the “Prospective Students” page for details about the application process.
The HCI program is rated in the top 10 programs nationally in 2022 for best value. Master’s Program Guide. ” Alumni work all over the country, with a phenomenal placement record for graduates in both government and business. Graduates work for companies like Facebook, Quicken Loans, General Electric, Electronic Arts, and the World Bank, just to name a few.
This program is one of the top game design graduate programs in the country, according to the 2023 Princeton Review. (Top 25 Game Design Graduate Programs)
Human Computer Interaction/ UX Design
Human Computer Interaction and the specialization of usability studies (UX) are growing fields that encompass all aspects of the end user experience.
We train students in ways of understanding how humans interact with computers. Having usable designs and being centered on the needs of users is key to what we do. UX researchers and UX designers are employed in companies that work with everything from health applications to education. Our training takes into account the organization’s goals and objectives, and aim to inform or optimize the design of interactive systems through theoretically informed, empirically validated best practices. Career paths include: user experience researcher, designer, analyst, usability tester, interaction designer, information architect, web application front end developer. Click here to see more details about recommended classes for this focus.
Game Studies and Design
Game studies and design looks at the impacts of games not only for entertainment, but also how they can be made to aid education, information dissemination, and even health applications.
Through games studies we see how stories are increasingly told through interconnected experiences across multiple media platforms such as virtual reality, mobile apps, social media, and traditional games. Our highly ranked program goes deeply into learning about the theoretical principles that make games so powerful. Our students also learn multi-method approaches to testing the impacts of games and how these can impact society. This is a “studio” focused area, with the production of media products in collaboration with peers within the concentration and with undergraduate students working in this major. Our highly rated program is intense and students will benefit from a background in game design and development. Click here to learn more about the recommended classes for this focus area.
Media Policy
Policy and Society focuses on understanding the social and economic implications of new media and information technologies and services.
This program is one of the few in the United States that explores the impacts of media on society and policy response. We work closely with the Quello Center and have internationally known leaders come to speak to our students and researchers. We introduce students to current theories and ways of studying media and information, both in the US and from a global perspective. It is ideal for students seeking to pursue doctoral level study or to use new media and information for business, government, nonprofits, and society as a whole. Many students in this area do research on the impacts of misinformation in social media, the human factors of cybersecurity, privacy policies, economic impacts of media platforms and other emerging issues. Click here to learn more about recommended classes for this focus.
Serious Games Certificate
This certificate is geared towards the use of games in education, therapy, and other professional applications
This certificate is available for those in our master’s program, or for those who just want the certificate to enhance their professional qualifications. It can be completed entirely online and the application is separate from our primary master’s program. See this page for more details
News in our department
Game Studies Program Leadership
GameDev at MSU ranks 1st in the nation for game design and development programs, according to The Princeton Review®. The education services company features the school on its annual ranking list, “Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Game Design for 2020.” Across the world, MSU’s game design and development program also ranks 7th among undergraduate programs and 12th among graduate programs. Click here to learn more-
Research in the Metaverse
Dr. Rabindra Ratan, received $75,000 from Meta (Facebook) to study inclusion and accessibility in Virtual Reality.
Under his direction, this funding will be used to support Dr. Ratan and his lab’s research on the social and psychological effects of avatars, virtual reality, and other metaverse-related technologies, with a focus on improving prosocial outcomes in education, the workplace, and public contexts.
“This research project aims to improve workplace outcomes related to equity and inclusion within virtual meetings,” said Dr. Ratan. “We are looking into whether certain technological features in virtual meetings that relate to self-presentation, such as avatars, could be designed to mitigate negative self-focused attention.”
Dr. Susan Wyche: John K. Hudzik Emerging Leader in Advancing International Studies and Programs Award
In her role as associate professor in the Department of Media and Information, Susan Wyche contributes to human-computer interaction (HCI) and information communication technology and development (ICTD)—interdisciplinary fields focused on understanding and designing technology. Her research contributions include novel findings about mobile phone and Facebook use in Africa and practical insights regarding their implications for technology design.
Wyche is interested in developing an understanding of technology use in sub-Saharan Africa that is grounded in people’s experiences. Her research has examined mobile phone, social media, and hand hoe use in this context, primarily in Kenya. She has conducted fieldwork in the country since 2007. Wyche also has a courtesy appointment in MSU’s African Studies Center.
Wyche’s research is funded by awards from Google, Facebook, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is a 2015 recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award.
Contact Us
Address: 404 Wilson Rd., Suite 409, East Lansing, MI 48824
Hours: Mon-Fri. 8:00am-5:00pm EST
Email: migrad@msu.edu