Online Degree Programs

As a student in the IU Online Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies, you explore the core principles of writing and literature. You learn to teach students to craft sound arguments using close attention to logic, context, and audience. You also develop a fluency with the current debates, schools, and theories of writing instruction.

Areas of focus include: 

• Contemporary theory on the pedagogy of composition and literature
• Linguistic structures and history of the English language
• Reading strategies and literary analysis, with attention to close reading, style, form, genre, and rhetorical practices
• Approaches to composition and writing instruction, including the identification and evaluation of sources, use of evidence, generation of ideas, and the development and organization of argument
• Developing archival research skills and facility with electronic resources
• Developments, trends, and frontiers in the digital humanities

Of Special Interest for Dual-Credit and Community College Instructors Needing to Meet HLC Standards 

The Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies is ideal for those who want to teach dual-credit courses and who need to meet Higher Learning Commission dual-credit qualification standards. These standards require teachers wanting to teach dual-credit courses to hold either a master's degree in their area of instruction or a master's degree in another discipline (such as education), plus at least 18 credit hours of discipline-specific graduate coursework.

• If you hold a master's degree in another discipline, you can meet HLC standards by completing the 20 credit hour Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies. 
• If you plan to pursue the IU Online MA in English or the  IU Online Master of Liberal Studies, you may apply the 20 credit hours from the Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies toward the master's degree. 

Your IU Online Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies prepares you for such careers as:

• Composition dual-credit teacher (high school) 
• Composition instructor (community college)

This 100 percent online, consortial program is taught by IU Bloomington, IUPUI, IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, and IU Southeast. This consortial model allows you to take coursework from several campuses and learn from a wide range of faculty.

Certificate Requirements

To enroll in this program, you must possess either a BA in English (or related bachelor's degree in education with an English specialization, concentration, or outside area) or two years of secondary teaching experience in literature or composition classes. To earn the Graduate Certificate in Composition Studies, you must complete a total of 20 credit hours.

NOTE: If you choose to pursue the  IU Online MA in English or the  IU Online Master of Liberal Studies, these certificate courses may apply to ("stack into") your degree requirements. Admission to the Certificate in Composition Studies does not constitute admission into any of the face-to-face graduate programs in English at the participating campuses. 

See courses that are being offered this semester. 

Download a printable PDF summary of all our graduate programs for teachers.