Athabasca University

What you'll study

The curriculum emphasizes foundations of distance education, instructional design, and contemporary educational technology applications. Students follow a combination of core courses and electives covering topics such as online teaching methods, instructional design for distance learning, and trends in K–12 online learning to build broad competence in distance education practice. At least nine credits must be completed through Athabasca University.

Entry requirements

Admission requires a baccalaureate degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. Applicants should consult the program admission page for full details and to confirm eligibility.

Career prospects

Graduates typically move into mid-level roles in educational and corporate settings that involve designing, managing or supporting online learning. Roles identified by the program include distance learning coordinator, instructional designer, e-learning specialist, educational technology consultant, training and development manager, online curriculum developer, LMS administrator and education program manager.

Scholarships & funding angle (general)

The program page lists detailed tuition and fees for 2026–2027: per-course tuition rates and associated course administration, materials and student association fees are included in published course fees. An estimated total tuition for a Canadian student taking all six required three-credit course equivalents from Athabasca University is provided on the program page. Indigenous Canadian graduate students are eligible for a 10% tuition reduction on the graduate course portion starting Sep. 1, 2026. Applicants should also note application and admission fees, and potential administrative fees such as transfer-credit evaluations, course extension or withdrawal processing—full current fee information is available on Athabasca University’s Financial Services pages.