Writing

Become a writer at USCA, South Carolina's ONLY public college with a BA in Writing.

At the University of South Carolina Aiken, our Bachelor’s Degree in Writing is designed to help you write and develop your writing in a supportive, challenging, and career-focused environment.

USCA has the only Bachelor of Fine Arts in professional or creative writing at any public South Carolina school. Our program helps shape talented young writers, giving you the tools and experience to write in a way that effectively inspires, persuades, and educates your audience.

Choose between two tracks: A Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing or a Bachelor of Fine Arts in professional writing.

Program Highlights

At USCA, you’ll practice writing effectively in different genres even as you hone your own voice and style. We stand out from other institutions by offering:

• Internship opportunities. You’ll have many opportunities to complete internships to get real experience and build your resume. Examples include editorial positions at publications connected to USCA, peer writing tutor positions, or off-campus internships at Aiken-area businesses for those pursuing professional writing degrees.
• Full-time faculty who are also published writers. Our full-time writing faculty have collectively published more than 20 books and hundreds of articles, short stories, poems, and more. They teach all courses, including introductory courses for freshmen. Every writing major also benefits from our commitment to small class sizes and individualized attention from our faculty members.
• A chance to graduate with a portfolio of work. As a writing major, you’ll complete a senior thesis—a portfolio-building, graduate-level writing assignment. Those pursuing a creative writing degree will produce original works of fiction or poetry, while professional writing degree students will put together a portfolio they can share on job applications.
• An affordable education. Our Bachelor’s Degree in Writing is one of the most affordable professional writing or creative writing degrees in the state. USCA is consistently ranked among the most affordable schools in South Carolina, and the variety of scholarships and writing awards available to students in the English department make this degree an especially good value.

Course Highlights

The curriculum for the Bachelor’s Degree in Writing includes intensive writing workshops and your senior thesis and internship. You’ll also work on building your foundation with courses in grammar, composition, and editing. This is rounded out with literature courses where you can analyze and immerse yourself in what good writing.

Courses you’ll take for either the professional or creative writing degree include:

• Rhetorical Grammar
• Advanced Composition
• Editing and Publishing
• Literature Electives
• Senior Thesis

All writing majors will also have time to add a minor to their course of study to broaden their education. Common minors include literature, business, communications, history, and more.

Creative writing or professional writing? 

Writing majors at USCA can pursue two tracks: creative writing and professional writing.

Creating writing degree students master the art of storytelling, poetry, or lyrical prose with a variety of creative workshops. You’ll also produce a collection of your own original works for your senior thesis. Many creative writing students go on to graduate school or careers in education, the arts, or media.

The professional writing degree track prepares you to use the written word in business communications, technical writing, health care writing, and more. Our degree emphasizes real-world experience editing for scholarly publications or interning at local businesses to further prepare you for a career as a professional writer.