Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing
BA in Professional Writing Overview
When businesses or nonprofits are hiring, mastery of writing skills is a top priority—but those skills are lacking in the current applicant pool. To meet the need for highly skilled writers and editors, the Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing allows students to focus on technical or business writing, gaining a foundation in critical reading, thinking, and editing skills.
Setting this degree apart from other professional writing programs, Spalding’s BA in Professional Writing includes serious study of creative writing, where students develop imaginative approaches to writing and thinking. Understanding principles of story structure, narrative arc, character development and the like will make you a better storyteller, whether you’re writing grants, scripting films, working in marketing, or doing journalism.
In this program, you’ll study with faculty members from Spalding’s School of Business, School of Liberal Arts, and Master of Fine Arts in Writing (MFA) program. The BA in Professional Writing prepares its graduates for careers in business, marketing, communications, advertising, library science, ghostwriting, speechwriting, grant-writing, teaching, journalism, publishing, writing for television, writing for the web, and more.
- 120 credit hours
- Practicums and internships
- Annual Celebration of Student Writing
- Salon-style reading sessions
- Author visits, writers in residence and writing workshops
- Naslund-Mann School of Writing Graduate Residency and Credit Opportunities
- The Opal Literary Magazine Editorial Staff
Courses
Spalding’s BA in Professional Writing program is 120 credit hours. Students in both the Business and Technical Writing tracks explore writing, editing, communication, digital media, and digital content creation. In both the technical writing and business tracks, you’ll complete both an internship and a practicum. You’re also invited to attend the nationally recognized Spalding low-residency MFA program’s business-of-writing sessions, featuring literary agents, editors, and publishers. For students interested in pursuing graduate degrees in marketing or business, this program allows them to take graduate level courses (up to 9 credit hours) while completing their undergraduate degree.
Both tracks of the BA in Professional Writing require 52 credit hours of University Studies courses:
- Introduction to College (1 credit hour)
- Communication (12 credit hours)
- Humanities (15 credit hours)
- Natural Sciences (9 credit hours)
- Religious Studies (6 credit hours)
- Social Sciences (9 credit hours)
Students also take the core curriculum of the major and its specific tracks:
Core Curriculum for the BA in Professional Writing: Business Track
- Creative Writing (18 credit hours)
- Professional Writing (9 credit hours)
- Business and Marketing (12 credit hours)
- Art (6 credit hours)
Core Curriculum for the BA in Professional Writing: Technical Writing Track
- Creative Writing (18 credit hours)
- Practicum (3 credit hours)
- Professional Writing (18 credit hours)
- Communication (12 credit hours)
All students who graduate from the Business Track automatically earn an Entrepreneurship minor.
Students in the Business Track who are early admitted to MBA or Master of Science in Management will take 9 credit hours of 600-level business courses that serve as both electives for the BA program and courses for the graduate programs in business.
Career
Employers need job candidates with excellent writing and editing skills, and Spalding’s Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing is designed specifically to develop those abilities. The curriculum also helps students build soft skills such as collaboration, organization, presentation, and communication skills all of which are highly valued in the workplace.
With a focus on technical and business writing, a BA in Professional Writing from Spalding University will provide a foundation for critical reading, thinking, and editing skills that can lead to careers such as library science, ghostwriting, speechwriting, grant-writing and proposal development, teaching, communications director, journalism, publishing, writing for television, writing for the web, business, marketing, and advertising to name a few. This degree also offers the possibility for students who are interested in pursuing graduate degrees in marketing, business, and creative writing to take graduate level courses (up to 9 credit hours) while in an undergraduate program. The job market is in need of excellent editing and writing skills and our Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing can provide that foundation and experience.
Admissions Requirements
Ready to write for life? Discover how Spalding’s creative writing program can prepare you to build a life around language.
Tuition
Let’s put your path on the page. Learn about tuition and fees for our Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program, as well as your financial aid options.
Find Possibility in the Heart of the City
DISCOVER YOUR GROWTH POTENTIAL
Creative writing majors develop some of the most in-demand marketplace skills that employers are seeking, including strategic thinking, communication, and problem-solving.
High-Impact Career Preparation
Spalding’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is an opportunity to build a life around language and become part of a writing community. In addition to craft and community, creative writing graduates will prepare for careers in a variety of industries, including:
- Communication
- Education
- Journalism
- Marketing
- Public Relations
- Publishing
- Television
- Theatre
Internship Opportunities
BFA students gain valuable experience outside Spalding as well. Our students have held internships at the following places:
- Filson Historical Society
- Fons Vitae
- Hydra Publications
- Kentucky Author Forum
- Louisville Magazine
- Spalding University Writing Center
- Today’s Woman Magazine
The Opal Lit Magazine
The BFA’s undergraduate magazine, The Opal, gives students the opportunity to work as editors for an online, student-run publication. Going into its third year, The Opal is focused on providing a space for emerging writers across the country.
Students walk out of here with lines on their resumé or CV that say ‘here are these things that I did. Here is this real-world work experience I’ve had with a lit magazine, with this practicum, with this internship.’ They can turn that passion and experience into something they can make a living from.
Charles Maynard, Director of Undergraduate Creative and Professional Writing
Spalding’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program is led by Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing and School of Liberal Arts faculty.
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