If you have a passion for writing, a natural curiosity and a desire to apply your
creative talents in a professional career, this degree can help you achieve your goal.
Develop your communication skills and prepare to enter or to advance in occupations
requiring extensive written analysis and reporting. The program prepares you to improve
written communication and its management in the corporate and public sector and in
professional organizations. The program also features workshops in fiction, creative
nonfiction and poetry, taught by published and award-winning authors.
About Our Students
Alexander Eikenberg ’23 plans to teach English at the college level. To align with
his goals, he did an internship as a teaching assistant in an English course for non-majors.
Students typically enter the program with liberal arts backgrounds, but business and
healthcare professionals often pursue professional training to enhance their writing
skills. Faculty members have many years of experience writing and designing information for a range
of media and audiences. Some faculty members serve as communications consultants throughout
the region, while others are active in research and in national organizations for
professionals in business, technical and biomedical communication.
The program’s required internship gives you the opportunity to gain experience in
your chosen field. Students have interned with publishing companies, community literacy
projects, elementary and secondary schools, television networks, nonprofit organizations
and corporations. Graduates work in the fields of publishing and editing, advertising,
public relations, technical writing and education.
Choose from Six Tracks
The program provides advanced study in the theory of writing, writing techniques and
style, principles and techniques of editing, and the functions of written communication
within the professional and occupational setting. The program features six tracks:
Course schedules are designed for the working professional. Evening classes, some
of them offered in a partly online format, allow students to pursue careers along
with the graduate program.
Only Program in Maryland
The graduate program in professional writing is the only program of its kind in Maryland
and is one of only six other programs nationwide.