Core Courses

Students must complete a total of 9 s.h. of core writing courses. To view a list of core courses, please visit the UI Catalog.

Focused Electives

Students earn a total of at least 9 s.h. in focused electives, which they select from courses in at least two of the following categories (maximum of 6 s.h. from any one category). To see which courses from each category are being offered in a given semester, please check MyUI or write to us at magid-writing@uiowa.edu.

• Writing for the Professions - including art, business, grantwriting, journalism, translation, publishing, science, and more.
• Writing and the Literary Arts - including creative writing, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, and poetry.
• Writing and the Media - including television/screenwriting and other media.
• Writing in Context - including cross-discipline, cross-genre, and other specialized writing courses not listed above.
• Student-Designated Writing-Intensive Course - Students may petition to count a course not listed in our course database toward the certificate by submitting a Course Petition Form.

Each focused elective course may be used to fulfill only one certificate requirement, even if the course is listed in more than one category. Some of these courses have prerequisites and other requirements for registration; students must complete a course's prerequisites and meet its registration requirements before they may register for the course.