If you have ever considered a professional career as a writer, editor, or information designer, then you have arrived at the right degree program.
Any company, government organization, or non-profit organization needs writers who can advance their internal and external communication goals through clear information design and effective editing. In a recent overview from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for technical writers is expected to grow at a rate of 12% in the decade 2020-2030. About 5,500 openings for technical writers are projected each year, and TTU TComm majors are very well-positioned to enter the field at graduation, as there are relatively few programs and the Texas Tech program is quite well-regarded. US News and World Report has listed technical writer as the #3 best job in the U.S. in creative and media careers, and it has consistently rated in the top 5. The median national annual wage for technical writers was $79,960 in May 2022 ($79,200 for tech writers in Texas), and that number has been rising steadily. The newly-updated TTU BA in Writing, Design, and Technical Communication is poised to grow.
One important part of technical communication is producing online content, for example creating workplace communication for online audiences. In a recent survey of global internet usage, Statista indicated that 4.66 billion people worldwide use the Internet today, and that this number is growing rapidly; those users visit nearly two billion unique websites, which need skilled content producers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2020, 199,400 Americans were employed as web developers and digital designers, and that opportunities in the field will grow 13% over the decade 2020-2030. Additionally, IBISWorld indicates that the $11 billion annual U.S. web design services field has been accelerating in a post-pandemic demand for mobile-optimized websites, which has led to an even faster rate of growth. Our program has particular strengths in interaction design and UX. In 2021, user experience designers averaged salaries of $94,018 per year.
The WDTC program’s courses in usable online documents should lead to majors and minors becoming more practical and popular among TTU students in the next few years.
Quality
Our English Department offers trusted expertise in online degree programs.
Our faculty recently won TTU’s Departmental Award for Teaching Excellence, and those are the faculty you’ll work with in online classes.
The Guide to Online Schools recently ranked our program #2 on its list of best online English degrees for value, noting our low cost and the success of our graduates.
We prepare our students to be successful: a recent survey of business recruiters ranked Texas Tech in the top ten universities nationwide in preparing our graduates for the workforce.
And, Texas Tech is in the top 3% of universities in the world, according to the Center for World University Rankings.
Affordability
When you join the English Department, we want to help you feel part of our home. We offer awards, scholarships, and financial aid for undergraduate students.
The undergraduate scholarship deadline is February 1. Apply via the TTU Graduate School’s Scholarship Portal. See instructions below for current students and incoming students.
For more information, check out our bountiful opportunities for Awards, Scholarships, and Financial Aid in the English Department.
Accessibility
Our Online Bachelor of Arts in Writing, Design, and Technical Communication is an accessible program that allows students to attend classes while maintaining a full-time job. We make sure that all the courses you’ll need to complete your degree are available for you to take online, and we make sure that those courses can suit your schedule.
In fall, spring, and summer semesters, we offer our courses on weekday evenings in two formats:
- some courses are entirely online, meaning that all students attend class via video link
- other classes are “hybrid,” meaning that our online students join our onsite students in the classroom via video link.
In both types of courses, online students participate in classroom discussion every step of the way. The video apps we use for these courses – Zoom and Skype – are simple to use and make it easy to be part of the conversation. You can see your professor and your classmates, and you can speak or type to make a contribution. This is just one of the ways we make sure that our online programs give you the same professors, same courses, same degree as you’d get face-to-face.