M.S. Technical & Professional Communication

Are you ready to become a world-class communicator?
Degree Type Master of Science
Careers & Salaries Graduate Degree Outcomes
Delivery Online

UW-Stout's Master of Science (M.S.) in Technical & Professional Communication is a fully online 30-credit degree that prepares you to communicate in the 21st century. Designed for working professionals, our flexible curriculum provides an innovative, student-centered learning experience with the potential to transform your career on your schedule.

Note: Admission to the M.S. Technical & Professional Communication program has been suspended. Questions may be directed to Greg Schneider-Bateman, schneider-batemang@uwstout.edu. While the program is not currently accepting applications, our college and industry partners encourage you to discover the natural alignment between your professional interest in communications and these related career-focused degree programs:

Our expert faculty teach courses in:

  • user-centered design
  • visual rhetoric
  • rhetorical theory
  • editing
  • instructional design
  • project management
  • communicating in multilingual environments
  • speech communication
  
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Program Overview

View program plans, credit requirements and course descriptions.

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Certificates

Three graduate-level professional development certificates offer courses that are transferable into the degree program:

Professional Development Graduate Courses

Current high school teachers who wish to qualify to teach dual-credit courses (courses earning students high school and college credit) can earn up to 21 credits of ENGL graduate coursework. Please review the MS TPC Course Planner to learn more about courses and to see when they are tentatively planned to be offered. 

Use the Request Information form to receive a program summary and learn more about the M.S. Technical & Professional Communication.

Tuition & Fees

Customized Instruction at UW Stout can be described as programs that are designed with the adult learner in mind. Other universities will present costs and value differently - make sure you're comparing apples to apples. If you're comparing UW-Stout's customized instruction tuition to our competitors, keep in mind:

  • Customized instruction tuition rate includes the textbook rental fee.
  • There are no additional university-based semester or technology fees.
  • Students in customized instruction programs pay the same rate of tuition regardless if Wisconsin residents, out-of-state or international participants.

Value for Your Money

There’s more to value than just tuition. UW Stout also provides:

  • Program Director – faculty with discipline expertise.
  • Student Services adviser – one point of contact, providing support to students for each program.
  • Course sequences and matrices – know what courses are offered when so you can plan ahead.
  • Courses and programs may be stackable for use in another program.
  • Courses are flexible and convenient for working professionals.
  • Career Services staff to assist you with career planning and professional development.
Admission Requirements

General UW-Stout Graduate School Application

All prospective graduate students at UW-Stout must follow a standard application process through our Graduate School. Beyond that, each graduate program has specific requirements that must be met to be successfully admitted to the program:

Program-Specific Application Requirements

Please submit the following to apply to the M.S. Technical & Professional Communication program: 

  • Resume: Current resume detailing your work experience
  • Statement of Goals: Three-page statement addressing your academic history, employment history and professional goals. Include a discussion of your expectations for online learning and examples of your readiness to participate in online learning.
  • Portfolio and Reflective Statements: Portfolio of two or more samples of your current work demonstrating communication excellence. Each piece should be accompanied by a 500-word reflective statement explaining why you have included the piece in your portfolio.
  • Submit all materials to the Program Director by email or via USPS mail to:

    Gregory Schneider-Bateman
    Program Director
    University of Wisconsin-Stout
    340E Harvey Hall
    Menomonie, WI 54751

    Email: schneider-batemang@uwstout.edu

To gain full rather than probationary admission to the program, the applicant must have an overall undergraduate GPA of 2.75. The admission committee favors those applicants with academic and workplace experience writing and designing documents and those with keen interests in professionalizing their communication practices and skills.

NoteAdmission to the M.S. in Technical and Professional Communication program has been suspended. Questions may be directed to Greg Schneider-Bateman, schneider-batemang@uwstout.edu. While the program is not currently accepting applications, our college and industry partners encourage you to discover the natural alignment between your professional interest in communications and these related career-focused degree programs:

Program Objectives
  1. Survey and synthesize theoretical concepts and principles about major issues in technical and professional communication.
  2. Select and apply theoretical concepts and principles to the interpretation of technical and professional communication phenomenon.
  3. Evaluate relevant scholarship as a means of informing inquiry in technical and professional communication.
  4. Select, design and conduct research, using proper methods and methodology, making sound recommendations and drawing logical conclusions.
  5. Compose texts, designs and other deliverables, demonstrating ethical, rhetorical, and user-centered strategies.
  6. Assess documentation for accuracy, adequacy, correctness, accessibility and usability.
  7. Appraise international and intercultural issues in technical and professional communication, recommending strategies for addressing these issues.
  8. Evaluate the ways emerging media and digital technologies impact technical and professional communication.
  9. Plan a documentation schedule and monitor project progress against that schedule.
  10. Evaluate and execute team-building and interpersonal communication strategies.
Program Advisory Committee

Advisory Committee Members

GregorySchneider-BatemanProgram DirectorM.S. Technical and Professional Communication
Teena CarnegieDirector Technical CommunicationEastern Washington University
Jay EdenborgMarketing DirectorMayo Clinic Health System
Russ HallDigital CoordinatorAbbott
PaulAnheierUser Experience (UX) ResearcherAmazon.com, Inc.
BrianCroxallAssistant Research Professor of DHBrigham Young University
AaronFultzTechnical Communication ManagerSRK Consulting
AmyGriffithsDirector of Marketing & CommunicationsHennepin Avenue United Methodist Church
MattGundrumFreelance Writing Consultant 
MelissaHaeskaDirector of Operations and Grants ManagementNational Alliance on Mental Illness Minnesota
RachelHallgrimsonSocial Media CoordinatorMarketing Communications
MariaJahnTechnical Communications ManagerKohler Co.
ElizabethKafkaAlumniUW–Stout, English and Philosophy 
Lee-AnnKastman BreuchProfessor and ChairUniversity of Minnesota, Writing Studies
DavidMaddenDigital Content SupervisorHealthPartners
ColinMarklowitzDigital Media ProducerKohler Co.
AmyMittlestadtPublic Affairs ManagerMayo Clinic Health System
PatrickRanfranzDirector of MarketingRice Lake Weighing Systems
AlisonSaxtonTechnical Writer 
MaryaWilsonAssistant ProfessorOperations and Management

Technical & Professional Communication

All Technical & Professional Communication News
Inspiring Graduate YJ Doe, M.S. Technical and Professional Communication Featured Image

Inspiring Graduate YJ Doe, M.S. Technical and Professional Communication

'These learning experiences surely helped me to incorporate my upgraded skills in the classroom for my students.'
Adobe partnership benefits technical communication students Featured Image

Adobe partnership benefits technical communication students

Adobe Systems Inc. is partnering with UW-Stout to offer students hands-on experience with Adobe Technical Communication Suite.