Advanced Standing in the Professional Writing Program

Welcome to UC Berkeley Extension!

We hope you enjoyed your edX professional writing courses and are ready to enhance your skills to write well and communicate effectively in a professional setting. That’s where our Advanced Standing in Professional Writing program fits your goals.

Why Study Professional Writing?

Learning to write on a professional level is more than just knowing when to use an authoritative voice as compared to colleague-to-colleague communication.

It’s about writing effectively and persuasively so that you are able to get your message across and understood. If your audience doesn’t understand what you’re writing about or the words you’re using, your message won’t be received and the connection with your audience will be lost.

Whether you are writing a business proposal, fundraising letter, ad copy, feature story or blog, strong, persuasive writing is necessary to not only your own success, but also to your organization's.

Why Study At UC Berkeley Extension?

UC Berkeley Extension is the continuing education arm of the flagship campus, UC Berkeley.

Since 1891, we’ve been assisting students in reaching their professional goals and accomplishments. We offer more than 65 professional certificates and specialized programs, and more than 2,000 classroom and online courses, with 45,000 enrollments each year.

We pride ourselves on academic excellence. All of our courses and instructors are approved by the appropriate campus department. Our instructors, most of whom work in the field, bring their real-world experience to the classroom.

So when you enroll in a UC Berkeley Extension course, you receive a real-world, professional Berkeley-quality education.

Here’s How It Works

The verified certificate earned in your edX Business Writing program gives you an Advanced Standing in the Professional Writing Program. To complete your award of completion, you’ll take these required courses:

• Writing Skills Workshop
• Introduction to Public Relations Writing
• Fundamentals of Freelancing

You’ll also take a 2-unit elective. Options are listed on the right-hand side of this page.

In as little as one year, you’ll be able to add these professional writing skills to your résumé to impress your current or future boss.

How to Get Started

When you are ready to boost your professional writing knowledge, you’ll need to email us your edX Learner Record to extension-letters@berkeley.edu. We’ll work with you to confirm your Advanced Standing status.

There’s also no need to wait: Enroll in a course—such as Writing Skills Workshop—and get started on your additional education journey.

We’re excited to see you here—and in one of our classroom or online courses!