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Certificate in Professional Writing

Certificate Details

The English Department’s Communication in the Workplace research conducted by faculty demonstrates that writing skills are crucial to workplace success and advancement. Employees often seek out additional writing instruction to strengthen their skills in writing, editing, and document design for professional contexts. 

The Department of English offers an undergraduate certificate program in Professional Writing for Non-Degree Studies students who wish to sharpen their publication skills and master the fundamentals of editing and writing for the workplace. 

The program provides basic education for entry-level positions in:

  • Information Services
  • Public Relations
  • Technical Writing 
  • Journalism

Eligibility

To be accepted into the Certificate in Professional Writing program, applicants must meet the following criteria: 

  • You must have completed a college-level English course or the equivalent (credit, transfer credit, or credit by exam). If you completed an English course during a bachelor’s degree program, but are no longer seeking or did not complete the degree, you qualify for admission to the certificate program.
  • You must enroll as a Non-Degree Studies (NDS) student and should not be concurrently seeking a degree at NCSU during the time of certificate courses. The Division of Lifelong Education in Undergraduate Studies and Post-Baccalaureate Studies both fall under NDS.

Plan of Study

Satisfactory completion of the certificate program requires: 

  • Completion of five courses and pass each with a grade of “C-” or better. 
  • An overall GPA of 2.0 or better for all courses

Students are required to complete two courses in editing and technical document design address editing, revision, planning, drafting, and designing documents for publication. In addition, students choose three elective courses based on their interests. The main areas of study are, but not limited to, journalism, technical writing or creative writing.

Contact Us

All questions and inquiries can be sent to: professionalwriting@ncsu.edu 

Jamie Larsen
Director of Professional Writing Program
jlarsen@ncsu.edu