Dec 21, 2024

2024-2025 University Catalog

Professional Writing, BA

Location(s): West Lafayette

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About the Program

While pursuing a BA in Professional Writing, students explore strands in technical writing or writing and publishing. The Professional Writing student is a multimedia-writing specialist. The major is perfect for those who enjoy organizing and presenting information in multiple formats. Professional Writing cultivates writing for the digital workplace; specializes in multimedia writing, visual rhetoric, usability, and emergent technologies, as well as print and digital publishing; and emphasizes collaboration, community service, and open-source development and documentation. It also requires a minor outside the English department to cultivate further expertise in a related area of interest.

Professional writing offers two major scholarships annually to undergraduates, each currently worth $5,000, and focused on Technical Writing and Writing and Publishing.

All professional writing majors have opportunities to work with journals and magazines published in the English Department and two scholarly presses.

The Purdue Exponent student newspaper provides ample opportunity to hone journalism skills and get published on a regular basis. Professional writing majors often work as interns or in part-time positions with the newspaper.

Please visit Professional Writing for more information.

3 Year Degrees

The College of Liberal Arts offers the opportunity for students to complete their degree in three years. Degree in 3 majors allow students to enter the work force or graduate school a year earlier than traditional plans of study while also providing a cost-effective way to complete an undergraduate degree.

Students can complete the three-year option with or without AP credit by adding summer sessions to traditional coursework in Fall and Spring semesters. Degree in 3 offers a great combination of cost-savings and the opportunity to accelerate your future and achieve your goals.

Degree Requirements

120 Credits Required

Liberal Arts Curriculum

Each liberal arts major is designed as a four-year plan of study and includes three types of courses: Major, Core, and Elective. Most students take five courses per semester, with some of each type.

Professional academic advisors meet individually with each of our students on a regular basis to help with course selection, academic planning, and career development, as well as to help students find additional resources on campus.

Departmental/Program Major Course Requirements (33 credits)

Professional Writing students must also fulfill all the requirements for a minor outside the English Department.

Area A - English Literature 20000-Level (3 credits)

Choose one.

ENGL 23000 - Great Narrative Works Credits: 3.00
ENGL 23700 - Introduction To Poetry Credits: 3.00
ENGL 23800 - Introduction To Fiction Credits: 3.00
ENGL 24000 - British Literature Before 1789 Credits: 3.00
ENGL 24100 - British Literature After 1789 Credits: 3.00
ENGL 24900 - Great British Books Credits: 3.00
ENGL 25000 - Great American Books Credits: 3.00
ENGL 25700 - Literature Of Black America Credits: 3.00
ENGL 26200 - Greek And Roman Classics In Translation Credits: 3.00
ENGL 26400 - The Bible As Literature Credits: 3.00
ENGL 26600 - World Literature: From The Beginnings To 1700 A.D. Credits: 3.00
ENGL 26700 - World Literature: From 1700 A.D. To The Present Credits: 3.00

Area B - Background (9 credits)

ENGL 20300 - Introduction To Research For Professional Writers Credits: 3.00
ENGL 30600 - Introduction To Professional Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 20500 - Introduction To Creative Writing Credits: 3.00 or
ENGL 28000 - Games, Narrative, Culture Credits: 3.00

Area C - Advanced Writing Courses (21 credits)

ENGL 30900 - Digital Design And Production Credits: 3.00
Choose either Track 1 or Track 2 - Credit Hours: 18.00

Track 1: Writing And Publishing (18 credits)

Required Course (3 credits)

ENGL 48800 - Internship In Professional Writing Credits: 3.00 to 6.00 (taught only in spring semester)

Selectives (15 credits)

ENGL 40600 - Review Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 40700 - Intermediate Poetry Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 40900 - Intermediate Fiction Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 41900 - Multimedia Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 42000 - Business Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 42100 - Technical Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 42201 - Writing For The Health And Human Sciences Credits: 3.00
ENGL 42400 - Writing For High Technology Industries Credits: 3.00
ENGL 43201 - Editing And Publishing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 43300 - Writing Proposals And Grants Credits: 3.00
ENGL 43400 - Science And Medical Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 47000 - Advanced Topics In Rhetorical Studies Credits: 3.00
ENGL 48800 - Internship In Professional Writing Credits: 3.00 to 6.00
ENGL 50700 - Advanced Poetry Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 50900 - Advanced Fiction Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 51500 - Advanced Professional Writing Credits: 3.00
Up to two ENGL courses at 30000-level or higher - Credit Hours: 3.00-6.00
Up to one COM course in Writing or Journalism at 30000-level or above - Credit Hours: 3.00

Track 2: Technical Writing (18 credits)

Required Course (3 credits)

ENGL 51500 - Advanced Professional Writing Credits: 3.00 (taught only in fall semester)

Selectives (15 credits)

ENGL 33000 - Games And Diversity Credits: 3.00
ENGL 33200 - Games And User Experience (UX) Credits: 3.00
ENGL 34500 - Games And World Building Credits: 3.00
ENGL 40600 - Review Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 41900 - Multimedia Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 42100 - Technical Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 42201 - Writing For The Health And Human Sciences Credits: 3.00
ENGL 42400 - Writing For High Technology Industries Credits: 3.00
ENGL 43201 - Editing And Publishing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 43300 - Writing Proposals And Grants Credits: 3.00
ENGL 43400 - Science And Medical Writing Credits: 3.00
ENGL 47000 - Advanced Topics In Rhetorical Studies Credits: 3.00
ENGL 48800 - Internship In Professional Writing Credits: 3.00 to 6.00
Up to two ENGL courses at 30000-level or higher - Credit Hours: 3.00-6.00
Up to one COM course in Writing or Journalism at 30000-level or above - Credit Hours: 3.00

Required Minor (12-15 credits)

A minor outside of the English Department is required.

Other Departmental (31-55 credits)

The College of Liberal Arts Other Departmental area is designed to be experiential, informative, and relevant to life in a rapidly changing universe. It combines courses that fulfill University Core foundational outcomes, discipline diversity, social diversity, and other languages to produce a well-rounded background for students. Coursework is integrative and collaborative and fosters insight, understanding, independence, initiative, and the desire to reach across divides and redefine our relationship to the peoples and the worlds that surround us.

Core I: Disciplinary Diversity (6-18 credits)

Choose 1 course in 6 different disciplines within the College of Liberal Arts.

Note: Disciplines are differentiated by course prefix. Undistributed credit does not count to satisfy this requirement.

Core II: Social Diversity (1-3 credits)

Culture, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity all play a role in how others perceive us and how we experience the world, and as such, are meaningful categories for analyzing social change and social problems past and present. The purpose of this category is to acquaint students with the pluralistic nature of the world and foster an appreciation and awareness of the diverse range of lived human experience. Courses in this list will expose students to important aspects of human diversity and foster understanding about different world views.

Choose one course from the Social Diversity Selective List .

Core III: Linguistic Diversity (3-4 credits)

Proficiency through Level IV in one world language. Courses may be required to reach Level IV proficiency; these courses will be counted toward electives.

Foundational Requirements (21-30 credits)

Students must complete approved coursework that meet the following foundational outcomes. Many of these can also be used to fulfill Core I, Core II, or Core III.

Humanities - all approved courses accepted.
Behavioral/Social Science - all approved courses accepted.
Information Literacy - all approved courses accepted.
Science #1 - all approved courses accepted.
Science #2 - all approved courses accepted.
Science, Technology, and Society - all approved courses accepted.
Written Communication - all approved courses accepted.
Oral Communication - all approved courses accepted.
Quantitative Reasoning - all approved courses accepted.

Notes

Double counting of courses is allowed across the various categories.
All accredited programs whose accreditation is threatened by CLA Core requirement, both professional BAs and BFAs, are exempt from Liberal Arts Core I & II in order to meet accreditation standards and requirements. Liberal Arts Core III: Linguistic Diversity is still required for such programs.
“Degree +” students (students with a second major outside of Liberal Arts) are exempt from the CLA Core.

Electives (17-44 credits)

GPA Requirements

2.5 GPA in courses is required for Area B.
2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Arts degree.

College of Liberal Arts Pass/No Pass Option Policy

P/NP cannot be used to satisfy Liberal Arts Core, Liberal Arts major, minor, or certificate requirements.

University Requirements

University Core Requirements

For a complete listing of University Core Course Selectives, visit the University Senate Website.

Human Cultures: Behavioral/Social Science (BSS)
Human Cultures: Humanities (HUM)
Information Literacy (IL)
Oral Communication (OC)
Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
Science #1 (SCI)
Science #2 (SCI)
Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
Written Communication (WC)

Civics Literacy Proficiency Requirement

The Civics Literacy Proficiency activities are designed to develop civic knowledge of Purdue students in an effort to graduate a more informed citizenry. For more information visit the Civics Literacy Proficiency website.

To obtain the Civics Literacy Proficiency, students will complete an educational activity as part of their chosen Civics Literacy Pathway and pass the Purdue Civics knowledge test. The knowledge test can be completed at any time while the pathway is being perused. There are three different pathways:

Civics Event pathway - Attend six approved civics-related events and pass the required exam; or
Civics Literacy Podcast pathway - Complete 12 podcasts created by the Purdue Center for C-SPAN Scholarship & Engagement that use C-SPAN material and pass the required exam; or
Approved course pathway - Complete one of the following approved courses and pass the required exam.

More details about each pathway and how to complete the requirement can be found on the Civics Literacy Student Dashboard in myPurdue.

Upper Level Requirement

Resident study at Purdue University for at least two semesters and the enrollment in and completion of at least 32 semester hours of coursework required and approved for the completion of the degree. These courses are expected to be at least junior-level (30000+) courses.
Students should be able to fulfill most, if not all, of these credits within their major requirements; there should be a clear pathway for students to complete any credits not completed within their major.

Additional Information

Liberal Arts offers a streamlined plan of study for students pursuing a second degree outside CLA. Contact the CLA Advising Office for more information.

Sample 4-Year Plan

Fall 1st Year

Written Communication - Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00
Area A English Literature Selective - Credit Hours 3.00
Quantitative Reasoning - Credit Hours: 3.00
World Language Level I - Credit Hours: 3.00
Required Minor Course- Credit Hours 3.00

15-16 Credits

Spring 1st Year

Oral Communication - Credit Hours: 3.00
Science - Credit Hours: 3.00
World Language Level II - Credit Hours: 3.00
CLA Core II: Diversity Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Required Minor Course - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits

Fall 2nd Year

ENGL 20300 - Introduction To Research For Professional Writers Credits: 3.00
ENGL 20500 - Introduction To Creative Writing Credits: 3.00 or
ENGL 28000 - Games, Narrative, Culture Credits: 3.00
World Language Level III - Credit Hours: 3.00
CLA Core I: 1 of 6 - Credit Hours: 3.00
Behavioral/Social Sciences (CLA Core I: 2 of 6) - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits

Spring 2nd Year

ENGL 30600 - Introduction To Professional Writing Credits: 3.00
World Language Level IV (CLA Core III) - Credit Hours: 3.00
Humanities (CLA Core I: 3 of 6) - Credit Hours 3.00
CLA Core I: 4 of 6 - Credit Hours: 3.00
Science - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits

Fall 3rd Year

ENGL 30900 - Digital Design And Production Credits: 3.00
Area C Advanced Writing Track Selective - Credit Hours 3.00
Area C Advanced Writing Track Selective - Credit Hours 3.00
CLA Core I: 5 of 6 - Credit Hours: 3.00
Required Minor Course - Credit Hours 3.00

15 Credits

Spring 3rd Year

Area C Advanced Writing Track Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Area C Advanced Writing Track Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
CLA Core I: 6 of 6 - Credit Hours: 3.00
Required Minor Course - Credit Hours: 3.00
Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits

Fall 4th Year

Required course for chosen Track: ENGL 51500 is only taught in the fall; ENGL 48800 is only taught in the spring.
ENGL 51500 - Advanced Professional Writing Credits: 3.00 or Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Science, Technology, and Society - Credit Hours: 3.00
Required Minor Course - Credit Hours: 3.00
Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits

Spring 4th Year

Required course for chosen Track: ENGL 51500 is only taught in the fall; ENGL 48800 is only taught in the spring.
ENGL 48800 - Internship In Professional Writing Credits: 3.00 to 6.00 or Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Area C Advanced Writing Track Selective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits

Pre-Requisite Information

For pre-requisite information, log in to mypurdue.purdue.edu and click here.

World Language Courses

World Language proficiency requirements vary by program. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor. (ASL-American Sign Language; ARAB-Arabic; CHNS-Chinese; FR-French; GER-German; GREK-Greek(Ancient); HEBR-Hebrew(Biblical); HEBR-Hebrew(Modern); ITAL-Italian; JPNS-Japanese; KOR-Korean; LATN-Latin; PTGS=Portuguese; RUSS-Russian; SPAN-Spanish)

Critical Course

The ♦ course is considered critical.

In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major. Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful. These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program.”

Disclaimer

The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. Consultation with an advisor may result in an altered plan customized for an individual student. The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.

Comparative information about Purdue University and other U.S. educational institutions is also available through the College Navigator tool, provided by the National Center for Education Statistics, and through the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.