Students generally take 4 courses per semester. Coursework includes 6 core courses and 6 electives. The core curriculum includes foundational work in professional and technical writing, audience and problem analysis, rhetoric, linguistics, style and editing, user-based research methods, computer applications, visual design, and organizational management. The remainder of each student's coursework varies based on his or her chosen concentration and recommendations from the student's advisor.
Elective courses vary according to each student's career interests.
Students may use their electives to pursue a range of interests or to develop expertise in a single area of concentration. A concentration may generally be fulfilled by taking courses offered exclusively through the English department. In addition, some students arrange to take courses in other departments and colleges, subject to those departments' requirements regarding pre-requisites and availability. MAPW concentrations include corporate communications , design , science communications , research , rhetorical studies , technical communications , policy and public communications ,and self-defined . This course introduces students to the theory, research, and practice of professional writing.