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2024 Best Colleges for Writing

There are about 2,643 students enrolled in Writing in the USA.

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popularity

Not Very Popular

Compared to national avg.

Diplomas received last year

962

Vs. National Avg.

-94%

popularity Rank

#289

cost

Average

Compared to national avg.

Median degree cost

$30K

Vs. National Avg.

23%

cost Rank

#143

salary

Average

Compared to national avg.

Average Salary Two Years Out of School

$42K

Vs. National Avg.

5%

salary Rank

#199

professors

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Professor Rating

C+

Vs. National Avg.

-0%

professors Rank

#262

students

Below Average

Compared to national avg.

Diversity Rating

C+

Vs. National Avg.

-1%

students Rank

#276

SUMMARY

Choosing to study Writing is not only a valuable choice, but usually a mandatory first step for undergraduates intending to begin a career as a journalist, a creative writing professor, or a content writer. In fact, writing is an uncommon degree ranking as the 243rd most popular major. In the last year, there were 731 writing degrees conferred. In-state tuition for writing at private colleges is, on average, 3.6 times more expensive than their public peers.

With only 91 colleges having programs for this degree there might be a more finite list of the institutions which will have a degree program for you. If you are looking to surround yourself with other writing undergraduates, consider institutions in Michigan which have the most undergrads admitted to writing annually. Zooming out, the best region to major in writing is in the Great Lakes region with DePauw University, Grand Valley State University, and Marquette University best representing the region. Interestingly, our pick of the best conference to major in writing is the Big Twelve Conference with The University of Texas at Austin representing the conference. From our list on the best colleges, our belief is that the best school for writing is The University of Texas at Austin.

The overall best school does not have to be the best school for you. There might be a bunch more facets to think about when selecting college. Stuff like campus amenities, transportation services, and food might definitely change your choice on where to go to school. At authority.org, we've evaluated the pros and cons for you. If, as an example, you are interested in which writing university is home to the top campus, the answer is San Diego State University. If you are very interested in which university is home to the best campus, we have a whole page dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through government databases, professor reviews, student reviews, and more so we can compare each major in an unbiased and informative way. Here you can find our comprehensive list for the schools with the best student life&nbspand our pick for the school with the best student life for writing is The University of Texas at Austin. Curious why? Continue reading to learn more about our top selections. Some of our conclusions will probably surprise you.

If price is a primary factor in your decisions, you might consider avoiding Hobart William Smith Colleges. Hobart William Smith Colleges&nbspis our most expensive school for writing, at least for out of state attendance. That being said, we have a list of the most expensive&nbspcolleges that could put the cost at Hobart William Smith Colleges&nbspinto perspective. For more context, you may be interested to know that writing is the 204th most expensive major in the US, with an average associated cost of $29,700. On a broader scale, the most expensive state for writing nationally is Ohio with tuition and fees at the main school, Denison University, of $52,620. Even more broadly, the most expensive region of the country for writing is the Southwest region which is best demonstrated with Saint Edward's University with a cost of $46,690, The University of Texas at Austin with a cost of $38,326, and Texas Christian University with a cost of $49,160.

Our cheapest region for writing is the Plains region which is represented by Drury University with a cost of $28,500, Northwest Missouri State University with a cost of $10,738, and Drury University-College of Continuing Professional Studies with a cost of $6,288. On the bright side, the most affordable university for writing is Georgia Southern University. Our entire list of the most affordable schools can be found here.

In-state attendees can expect to pay around $10,500 for a degree in writing. That price swells significantly to an average of $21,700 for the out-of-state public-school student. As such, you might be interested in our selection for the school representing the best value for writing: Marquette University. Through this link you will find our comprehensive list on the colleges we see as being the best value&nbspin general. That being said, this section is predicated on the assumption that you are an out-of-state student. A discussion of value changes when in-state tuition is considered, as such, we are using out-of-state tuition as the baseline.

Earnings for writing majors differ a lot, but within two years leaving college graduates will regularly make around $48,200. While there can be a lot of variation in earnings potential; top positions can experience pay up to $80,700. Even right out of university, the minimum earning opportunities within the writing space make $28,000, which isn't that bad. The top earning graduates for writing have come from Marquette University&nbspand if you are looking for schools with all of the highest earning graduates, we have that too.

The general diversity of writing ranks pretty bad, coming in only the 17th percentile of majors nationally. The school with the highest composite diversity for writing is University of Washington-Tacoma Campus&nbspand here you can find our comprehensive list for the schools with the most diversity. The overall financial diversity of Writing sits only in the 86th percentile of all majors. Racial diversity is even less in the 19th percentile. White students compose the largest share, 75%, of students studying writing. Additionally, 73% of undergrads seeking a writing degree are women.

The median score of writing professors is 4.2 stars, a score that is 5% above the average across all majors; which is a good score. If you are curious about the most popular writing professor in the nation, look no further than Adele Richardson at University of Central Florida. This may come as a surprise, but the top rated instructors for writing by student are found at Oakland University. If we consider information other than basic rankings we find that the school with the overall best professors for writing is The University of Texas at Austin. You will find more detail on our ever evolving ranking methodology for the best overall professors here, along with many of the best instructors in the U.S.

Finally, the most difficult university to get into for writing is Denison University. While we think of this list more as a novelty, we have an extensive page of the hardest colleges to get into. With that said, we hope you believe that considering the higher education world with context mainly formed from superlatives might cause issues. We hope you look at some of our more nuanced pages on different topics and read a couple of our helpful background pages on essential details to think about as you continue your school search.

Top 25 Best Colleges for Writing

Search for the best Writing colleges according to your filter parameters.

A+

Rating

#1 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Brown University

Providence, RI | www.brown.edu/

8%

Acceptance

10,807

Students

#13

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#2 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH | www.dartmouth.edu/

9%

Acceptance

7,171

Students

#15

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#3 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA | web.mit.edu/

7%

Acceptance

12,195

Students

#1

Ranking

$53K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#4 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL | www.northwestern.edu/

9%

Acceptance

25,870

Students

#12

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#5 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA | www.upenn.edu/

9%

Acceptance

30,688

Students

#7

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

B+

Rating

#6 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, IL | www.saic.edu/

78%

Acceptance

3,862

Students

#588

Ranking

$53K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#7 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY | www.columbia.edu/

7%

Acceptance

33,882

Students

#10

Ranking

$62K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#8 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO | www.wustl.edu/

16%

Acceptance

17,893

Students

#18

Ranking

$57K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#9 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL | www.uchicago.edu/

7%

Acceptance

20,413

Students

#11

Ranking

$61K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#10 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Wellesley College

Wellesley, MA | www.wellesley.edu/

20%

Acceptance

2,735

Students

#31

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#11 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD | www.jhu.edu/

11%

Acceptance

34,250

Students

#4

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#12 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA | www.cmu.edu/

17%

Acceptance

15,567

Students

#21

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#13 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA | www.usc.edu/

16%

Acceptance

52,376

Students

#28

Ranking

$60K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#14 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Emory University

Atlanta, GA | www.emory.edu/

19%

Acceptance

15,970

Students

#24

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#15 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Haverford College

Haverford, PA | https://www.haverford.edu/

18%

Acceptance

1,392

Students

#39

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#16 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI | https://umich.edu/

26%

Acceptance

49,530

Students

#33

Ranking

$52K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#17 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

The University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX | https://www.utexas.edu/

32%

Acceptance

54,243

Students

#81

Ranking

$40K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#18 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Southern Methodist University

Dallas, TX | https://www.smu.edu/

53%

Acceptance

12,963

Students

#100

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#19 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

University of Miami

Coral Gables, FL | www.miami.edu/

33%

Acceptance

19,971

Students

#73

Ranking

$54K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#20 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Hamilton College

Clinton, NY | www.hamilton.edu/

18%

Acceptance

2,085

Students

#44

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#21 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus

University Park, PA |

0%

Acceptance

0

Students

#0

Ranking

$0

Tuition

A+

Rating

#22 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Colby College

Waterville, ME | www.colby.edu/

10%

Acceptance

2,196

Students

#34

Ranking

$59K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#23 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

University of Washington-Seattle Campus

Seattle, WA | www.washington.edu/

56%

Acceptance

56,554

Students

#108

Ranking

$39K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#24 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Purdue University-Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN | https://www.purdue.edu/

67%

Acceptance

49,027

Students

#129

Ranking

$29K

Tuition

A+

Rating

#25 2024 Best Colleges for Writing

Macalester College

Saint Paul, MN | www.macalester.edu/

39%

Acceptance

2,118

Students

#88

Ranking

$58K

Tuition

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