Master’s (MS) in Professional Writing

Professional writing is everywhere! Professional writing includes copy created across industries for websites, emails, communication plans, pamphlets, prescription drug inserts, policy documents, FAQs (like this one), instructions, annual reports, grant proposals, white papers, chatbots scripts, social media posts, onboarding documents ... the list goes on.

Professional writers are at the forefront of creating strategic copy; applying style guides; building a unified voice and tone company-wide; tracking success measures; and editing to better engage, persuade, and influence target audiences.

Shifts in technology allow writers to combine words, images, and sounds in ways that merge digital spaces with printed documents. These new tools have created new habits in how we communicate and new avenues for professional writing to shape our society. Words have power and professional writers have impact.

Company websites, online publications, and digital services are growing in number, sophistication, and readership every day. This has increased the demand for professional writers that can create timely and accurate copy across traditional, digital, and media experiences. 

Our alumni go on to have active and engaging professional writing careers in sectors that include: government, technology, education, financial, nonprofit/fundraising, medical/healthcare/wellness, science/environment/energy, and corporate communications/marketing.  Our graduates are engaged in professional writing careers that include the following roles:

• Technical Editor/Technical Writer
• Senior Director of Institutional Partnerships
• Content Designer/UX Writer
• Senior Medical Editor/Writer
• VP, Marketing & Communications
• Head Writer, in-house Marketing
• Head of Content 
• Assistant Director of Communications & Engagement
• Freelance Writer/Editor

Earning an MS in Professional Writing from NYU will move you forward in your professional writing career—at any stage. We pride ourselves on a curriculum that has real-world relevance and prepares confident writers with the skills to craft strategic, ethical copy for companies and clients across industries. Our coursework will help you improve your craft as a writer and you will graduate with a professional-quality writing portfolio and access to a network of professional peers.

Guided by industry-experienced faculty, you will hone your writing and editing abilities and develop leadership, project management, and media literacy skills. Employers value the education our students receive, the skills they obtain, and their ability to confidently lead communication projects forward. This helps set our students apart and advances their job prospects and pathways.

With this degree, you can advance in your current career to a leadership role or pivot writing full-time for a passion project/industry you care about. You can also use your time in the program to try a range of industries and writing roles before launching a career that matches your writing strengths and interests.  

Yes! Every MS in Professional Writing student builds a digital, professional-quality portfolio in their final semester. The digital writing portfolio pulls from course work throughout the program and is individualized to students’ professional goals and personal interests.

Our curriculum is designed so that every class has multiple real-world assignments that could be included in a students’ digital writing portfolio. In your final semester, you select the coursework that best fits your career goals to build a digital portfolio that you can use as soon as you graduate.

The MS in Professional Writing is a 36 credit degree program. If you choose to study full-time, you can complete your degree in as little as 3 semesters. Most part-time students complete the MS in Professional Writing degree in 6 semesters. We believe graduate school should fit the busy lives of our students and you can opt to study full-time or part-time to find a work/life/student balance that is right for you.

Yes!  We encourage our applicants to explore the financial aid resources available to graduate students.  This includes a unique scholarship opportunity for first-semester MS in Professional Writing students.  

You! Our students build an online writing community that grows with each class you take. Students join the MS in Professional Writing program with a variety of interests, experiences, and individual goals. From NYC, across the country, and around the world, our students share a love of writing and a commitment to improving their craft. They are motivated by curiosity and by the possibilities of professional writing. They know that their writing can build understanding, communicate important messages, and create change in the world. And they have fun along the way.

A few other things that make our MS in Professional Writing unique:

• We are a high-touch, fully online program, providing the convenience of learning from any location, on your own schedule, as part of the NYU learning community. Renowned for our innovative workshop-model curriculum, our program is designed to match the flexible and tech-forward working life of professional writers. Learn more about the courses available in the MS in Professional Writing.
  
• We encourage students to explore a range of industries and writing styles in their coursework. You don’t have to narrow to one type of writing or industry until you’ve tried out a few. Alternatively, you can select electives that are clustered in one area to provide a deep dive (and targeted writing portfolio) if you already know your career path. 
  
• We have industry-experienced faculty who are leaders in their professions and care deeply about impacting the next generation of writers in their fields. In the MS in Professional Writing program, faculty and industry leaders work together to continuously update our courses, preparing our students to meet today’s unique communication demands.
• We partner with the NYU Wasserman Center for Career Development at NYU SPS, providing students and alumni with career coaching and connection to a global network of peers and professionals.