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Today, communication occupations demand a diversified skill set — one encompassing different media and publishing tools — to connect with an organization's audience. In the online master's in technical communication at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), you will learn how to craft effective information products and satisfying user experiences.
Rooted in the Department of English and Technical Communication's unique ethos and taking advantage of the school's STEM-centric environment, the program holistically explores what it means to be a successful communicator in a digital world. A fully online curriculum requiring a minimum of 30 credit hours will help you refine your written, visual and oral communication skills and use design principles and coding (HTML, CMS and XML) in crafting messages across multiple platforms. In the process, you will gain valuable experience with key Adobe products and other communication tools and discover what it takes — from topic-based authoring to intercultural communication to project management — to create content that meets the needs of diverse audiences.
Quick facts
Official name
Master of science in technical communicationCampus
Program type
Master's degreeAcademic home
College of Arts, Sciences, and Education | Department of English and Technical CommunicationDelivery mode
100% onlineAccreditation
Higher Learning CommissionCredit hours
30Estimated cost
$18,000.00Credit hours
30Estimated cost
$23,850.00*This cost is for illustrative purposes only. Your hours and costs will differ, depending on your transfer hours, your course choices and your academic progress. See more about tuition and financial aid.
Why earn an online master’s in technical communication
You may have started your career in a communication-based field, perhaps as a writer, journalist, editor or teacher, and have found that your current knowledge and skill set can take you only so far.
Communication professionals today are expected to shift seamlessly from print to electronic and digital media, using a variety of design, publishing and management tools to convey information that audiences will understand and remember. For this reason, employers routinely seek trained, versatile technical communication professionals ready to present information in ways that get noticed and satisfy users.
To help you advance your skills or pivot to a new career, the online master's in technical communication:
- Prepares you for a career, not just a job, and helps you acquire the credentials of a professional
- Introduces you to communication technologies and tools across print, digital and electronic media
- Emphasizes both adaptive thinking and ethical training as you enrich your understanding of communication theories and applications
- Exposes you to the role of project management and research in creating content for an organization's audiences
- Enables you to identify and meet the needs of your audiences, minimizing the risk of miscommunication
- Allows you to collaborate with faculty and students from science and engineering disciplines
- Strengthens your skills in writing, editing, content strategy, social media, user experience, design and global communication
Career prospects
Give yourself an edge in a field expected to see above-average growth over the next decade. The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates 14% more roles for media and communication professionals between 2020 and 2030, including 12% more positions for technical writers.
The skills and knowledge acquired from the online master’s in technical communication will prepare you to work in a variety of industries, including engineering, healthcare, technology, education, natural sciences, computer software and hardware, publishing, finance, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and research. Potential job titles include:
- Content developer
- Technical editor
- Technical writer
- Usability specialist
- Web designer
- User experience designer
Program structure
Missouri S&T offers the online master’s in technical communication in two formats: non-thesis (30 credit hours) and thesis (33 credit hours).
No matter which you choose, the program blends synchronous courses requiring live participation via Zoom or another virtual environment and asynchronous ones, with lectures posted to Canvas.
Courses are semester-based. Students typically take one or two classes each semester and finish in two to three years.
Course work covers
Encompassing the full range of competencies modern-day communication professionals require, the program covers:
- Technical editing and research in the context of audience and usability
- Creating effective online assistance systems and other applications
- Usability in relation to human-technology and human-communication interactions
- Writing proposals for academic, professional and public contexts
- Layout and design principles for print and electronic media
- Writing and editing for different forms of online media
- The history of technical communication and the role of the technical communicator
- Written, oral and visual forms of technical communications
- Project management techniques in the context of web design, multimedia and other documents
- Communicating with an international audience
Review all courses and descriptions for the online master’s in technical communication.
Delivery
100% onlineCalendar system
SemesterTypical program length
3 yearsTypical course load
1-2 classes per semesterAccreditation
Missouri University of Science and Technology is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.
Faculty spotlight
Ed Malone has a master's degree from Missouri State University and a doctorate from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. Dr. Malone is is the co-author of Technical Editing: An Introduction to Editing in the Workplace (Oxford UP, 2020). He teaches courses in Advanced Layout and Design, International Technical Communication and Technical Editing. He is a recipient of the Missouri Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Research interests: Technical editing, international technical communication, history of technical communication.
Dr. David Wright holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology, a master’s in higher education administration, and a Ph.D. in technical communication from Oklahoma State University (OSU). Dr. Wright worked as an aerospace education specialist at OSU, and then as an instructional development specialist in the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. He worked as a business development and communications manager for Paradalis, Inc. before returning to OSU in 2003, where he taught English and technical writing before coming to Missouri S&T. He is the co-author of The Digital Role-Playing Game and Technical Communication (2021).
Research interests: technology diffusion, communication networks, and rhetoric of science.
Dr. Carleigh Davis has an M.A. in rhetoric, writing, and social practice from Kent State University, and a Ph.D. in rhetoric, writing, and professional communication from East Carolina University. She was a Sweetland Digital Rhetoric Collaborative Fellow. Her research uses memetic rhetorical theory to examine the intersections between rhetoric and social justice in digital spaces. She taught at Kent State during her M.A. program, then at East Carolina University during her doctoral program, before coming to Missouri S&T in 2018.
Research interests: Technical and scientific communication pedagogy; rhetorics of technology; the spread of fake news, junk science, and modern conspiracies through social media.
Dr. Kathryn Northcut holds a bachelor’s in English from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, an M.A. in teaching English to speakers of other languages from Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. in technical communication and rhetoric from Texas Tech University. Before coming to Missouri S&T, she worked as a circulation manager for a newspaper, a legal assistant, an assistant director of a biological laboratory, a technical writer, and a lecturer in English. At Missouri S&T, Dr. Northcut has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in visual communication theory and practice; pedagogy; and proposal writing.
Research interests: Rhetoric of science, visual theory, pedagogy
Ryan Cheek has a master’s in communication from the University of Wyoming, and a doctorate in technical communication and rhetoric from Utah State University. Dr. Cheek’s research has been focused on political communication technologies, techne of gender and the technical rhetoric of apocalypse. “A big part of my training was as a debate coach,” he said. “It led me to academia, research and teaching.” His love of forensics partly explains his fascination with rhetoric. He also teaches video editing and design and research methods.
Research interests: political communication and rhetoric, gender, video editing and design