Professional Writing Major

Publish sooner than later. With our Upside-Down Curriculum, you begin taking courses in your Professional Writing degree program starting in your first semester.

Why Professional Writing?

The world needs good writers. Strong writing skills can translate into just about any career environment you can envision. How you turn your words into your life’s work and livelihood is what Champlain’s Professional Writing program is all about.

If you can write well, and understand just how many exciting career options there are for people who do, there’s no limit to the places you can go—from graduate school to doing what you love at newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, advertising agencies, digital media venues  and more. Past graduates are writing for magazines in Southeast Asia, working at Rolling Stone, teaching English, writing about food and wine, organizing poetry readings in San Francisco, editing books and online magazines or are gainfully engaged with the written word in dozens of other ways.

Why Professional Writing at Champlain?

Writing is changing faster than almost any other field.

Changes in digital communication, in social media, in digital printing—not to mention the ability to combine writing with still images, audio, video and interactive media—have changed forever what skills a writer needs, and what opportunities face a writer after graduation.

If you are passionate about a career as a writer, you’ll need not only a strong foundation in the mechanics of good writing and editing, but you’ll also benefit from grounding in graphic design, video storytelling and other new media abilities.

The Professional Writing program at Champlain is one of the few undergraduate programs that’s keeping pace with this exciting and rapidly-transforming landscape. Like more traditional writing programs, Champlain’s offers excellent courses in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting and playwriting, but you’ll also learn how to create your own online portfolio or blog and learn how to draw an audience to it.

In short, no matter what type of writing you want to do, this program prepares you to thrive as a writer in the real world. You’ll gain tremendous hands-on professional experience through extensive internships at places like Condé Nast, Rolling Stone or the Vermont International Film Festival, as well as through the real-world projects of the Champlain College Publishing Initiative.

An incredible range of activities, opportunities and careers involve writing, and the customizable Professional Writing program will give you the education you need to find and excel in your particular niche as a writer.

ADMISSION PREREQUISITE: PORTFOLIO REVIEW

• Customize your writing degree. The curriculum of this program has been designed so you can tailor your courses to your areas of greatest interest; whether it’s technical writing, journalism, food writing, screenwriting or another specialized topic area—we offer more writing electives than any other program in the country.

• Meet professional writers, including journalists, novelists, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, a National Public Radio essayist and a National Geographic travel writer who will talk about their lives and work.

• Write. Publish. Join other undergraduates writing for publications like Sports Illustrated and East Coast Snowboarding or creating their own blogs. Several of our students, even as undergraduates, are working on publishing their first books. Almost all our students have had their work published or performed by graduation. Many even begin earning money from writing while still enrolled at Champlain.

• Develop your own web site to showcase your work to potential editors, employers or graduate schools.

• Secure writing/editorial internships at organizations like Condé Nast and Rolling Stone

• Pursue an exciting, fulfilling career. There’s no limit to the places you can go—from graduate school to doing what you love at newspapers, magazines and publishing houses. Past graduates are writing for magazines in Southeast Asia, working at Rolling Stone, teaching English, writing about food and wine, organizing poetry readings in San Francisco, and editing books and online magazines.

Ask a Question about our Professional Writing Degree Program

Ask a question, and someone from our Admission team will put you in touch with the faculty or staff member who can best answer your questions.