Program Overview
Master of Information Program
The Master of Information (MI) is a two-year professional degree, attracting students from a wide range of academic backgrounds. It offers an extremely popular co-op option to qualified students.
Program Features
- Wide range of concentrations
- Co-op and Thesis Options
- Combined Degree Program with Museum Studies
Concentrations
A program concentration is a specialized area of study within a broader academic program, allowing students to focus on specific topics or disciplines of their choice. The available concentrations are:
- Archives and Records Management (ARM)
- Culture and Technology (C&T)
- Critical Information Policy Studies (CIPS)
- Human Centered Data Science (HCDS)
- Information Systems and Design (ISD)
- Knowledge Management and Information Management (KMIM)
- Library and Information Science (LIS)
- User Experience Design (UXD)
Professional Requirements
Students who began their program as of September 2024 need to complete their Professional Requirements. The Professional Requirements are divided into four categories: Technical, Managerial, Professional Values and Critical Perspectives. Students must fulfill 0.5 credits from each of the four categories.
Program Options
Course Work Option
The MI course work option provides students an opportunity to take a variety of courses within their chosen concentration, including elective courses from any concentration area.
Co-Op Option
The MI co-op is an option within the MI program to complete a total of two (1.0 credit), paid, full-time co-op work terms and gain professional experience in your field of study.
MI Thesis Option
The MI thesis option allows students to gain experience in developing and executing a research project from beginning to end.
Collaborative Specializations
Collaborative specializations allow students to specialize in a field outside of their main area of study and count the courses taken as electives in their MI degree program.
Program Essentials
Admission Requirements
More details about admissions requirements for domestic and international students can be found on the MI Applications page.
Money Matters
Information about tuition fees, financial aid, and scholarships and awards can be found on the Money Matters page.
Awards
Detailed information Awards, Scholarships and Financial Aid for domestic and international students can be found in the awards section.
Program Structure
The MI program requires students who began their program in Fall 2024 or later to complete sixteen 0.5 credit courses (8.0 credits total), including 2.0 credits of Professional Requirements. Students are eligible to complete their degree based on course work only. Alternatively, they can participate in co-op or complete a thesis to earn the required credits. Full-time students can finish the program in two years (with a maximum allowed duration of three years). Part-time students may take up to six years to complete the degree requirements.
Combined Degree Program
The Combined Degree Program offers students the option of earning both Master of Information and Master of Museum Studies degrees over an accelerated three-year period.
Foundational Beliefs
The Master of Information Program is built on four foundational beliefs:
- Information penetrates all aspects of our digitally-mediated society.
- Information professionals need to understand the political, technological, and epistemological consequences of rapidly changing information practices.
- Education of information professionals must therefore address issues of leadership and critical thinking, and engage in studies of fundamental concepts, theories, and practices.
- Thorough explorations of technology and resources for information institutions, services, and professionals are essential.
Learning Outcomes
The MI program learning outcomes are:
- Students understand and are conversant with fundamental concepts, theories, practices, and the diverse horizons of information disciplines, and can respond to changing information practices and needs of society.
- Students develop knowledge and values appropriate to their future exercise of economic, cultural, and/or social leadership, and thereby provide leadership in defining the social responsibility of information professionals to provide information services for all, regardless of age, educational level, or social, cultural, or ethnic background.
- Students develop the ability to contribute through research and publication, to the continuous expansion and critical assessment of the body of knowledge underlying the information and archives sciences.
- Students develop an understanding of the development of theory concerning information, where it is found, and how it is used.
- Students develop an understanding of the application of new technological developments to the preservation and communication of information, and in the identification of the impact of such developments on society.
- Students continue in life-long intellectual growth beyond graduation.