Overview
Clemson is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as Doctoral/Research University–Extensive, a category comprising less than 4 percent of all universities in America. The University’s mission is to fulfill the covenant between its founder and the people of South Carolina to establish a "high seminary of learning" through its responsibilities of teaching, research, and extended public service. The University has identified eight areas of academic emphasis that create collaborations that, in turn, help fulfill the University’s mission.

The MAPC Program comprises students who hold bachelor’s degrees in many diverse areas, such as biology, computer science, English, marketing, political science, and psychology. The program has approximately 41 students. Seventy-one percent are women, 76 percent attend on a full-time basis, and 5 percent are international students.

For most graduates, the Master of Arts degree in professional communication is a terminal degree, and they obtain jobs in fields such as multimedia publishing, technical communication, health communication, teaching and training, public relations, management, and marketing. Graduates are prepared to pursue a Ph.D. in Clemson’s Rhetoric, Communication, and Information Design Program. MAPC Program graduates have also been accepted in doctoral programs at Iowa State, Miami of Ohio, Purdue, and the University of Minnesota.

The Location and Community
Clemson is a small, beautiful college town near the Blue Ridge Mountains and Lake Hartwell. Plays, concerts, lectures, films, and sports events are sponsored by many University and community groups. Outdoor recreational activities abound. Seneca, Greenville, and Anderson are only a few minutes away and offer more extensive shopping and entertainment. Atlanta and Charlotte are each a 2-hour drive away.

Programs of Study and Degree Requirements
The Master of Arts in Professional Communication Program (MAPC) at Clemson University offers a flexible curriculum that allows students to tailor the degree specifically to meet their individual professional goals. Students take five core courses and electives in a cognate area. The five core courses include Research in Scientific, Business, and Technical Writing; Seminar in Professional Writing; Rhetoric and Professional Communication; Visual Communication; and either Workplace Communication or Advanced Organizational Communication.

Electives in a cognate area allow students to customize their degree program to meet individual career goals. Whether a student is considering entering the world of corporate professionals or pursuing a Ph.D., the MAPC program is designed to provide students with valuable theoretical and practical training. When choosing cognate courses, students are not limited to the Department of English but are encouraged to choose courses from any discipline on campus. Cognate areas include consulting, desktop publishing, digital publishing, finance, health communication, human resources, international communication, management, marketing, mediation/arbitration, public relations, research specialists, technical writing, teaching, training, and usability testing.

To earn the Master of Arts degree in professional communication, students take the five core courses and courses in their cognate area for a total of 30 credit hours, demonstrate a reading knowledge of a foreign language, pass a qualifying exam on a list of readings, and complete a thesis or a project option (projects allow candidates to work in industry for academic credit). Three out of 4 students complete the degree in two years or less.

Facilities & Resources
The Multimedia Authoring Teaching and Research Facility provides MAPC students with state-of-the-art Web publishing, multimedia authoring, and traditional print-design tools and hardware. The Class of 1941 Studio for Student Communication was the first communication studio in the country to include both teaching and research, and it offers access to high-tech multimedia presentation technologies. The Roy and Marnie Pearce Center for Professional Communication promotes effective communication across the curriculum as an integral part of the learning process through a comprehensive program of interdisciplinary workshops, collaborative ventures, sponsored projects, and action-research studies.

The Usability Testing Facility (UTF) advances the understanding of user-centered design processes and usability testing practices. Graduate students and faculty members in professional communication work with industry partners to improve the usability of products intended for mass public markets. By helping to improve the usability of clients’ products and documentation, UTF staff members help clients to reduce support costs, decrease development expenses, and increase their products’ competitiveness and customer satisfaction.

Expenses and Aid
Tuition is $5,643 per semester for in-state students and $10,255 per semester for nonresidents. Off-campus rates were $535 per hour for in-state students and $1,118 per hour for nonresidents. Graduate assistants paid a flat fee of $1,679 per semester and $448 per summer session. Graduate fellows paid South Carolina resident fees.

Financial Aid:
Financial aid is available to qualified full-time students in the form of assistantships, research assistantships, and teaching assistantships. Aid packages include a competitive monthly stipend and a reduction in tuition. Funding may be available on a competitive basis for students to travel to professional conferences. First-year graduate assistants may perform duties such as publication development in the Multimedia Authoring Facility, sponsored research in the Usability Testing Facility, tutoring in the Writing Center, and teaching laboratory sections of the composition course. After earning 18 hours toward the degree, graduate assistants may teach sections of composition. Student loans and fellowship awards are also available.

Housing/Living Expenses:
Graduate on-campus housing is available. Comfortable and economical housing, which includes two- and three-bedroom duplexes and town houses, is also available for families. Costs start at $385 per month ($455 per month for three-bedroom family housing). The cost of living in Clemson is quite low compared to the national average.

How to Apply / Application
Applications with a $50 nonrefundable fee should be received no later than five weeks prior to registration. Every required item in support of the application must be on file by that date. Students are advised to contact the department for the deadlines of the program of proposed study.

International Applicants
Applicants to the graduate programs at Clemson University must hold a four-year bachelor's degree (or equivalent) or a master's degree from an institution whose scholastic rating is satisfactory to the University. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores are required of all international applicants whose native language is not English and whose secondary education (and beyond) was not taught fully in English. Applicants who hope to receive a graduate assistantship are encouraged to submit scores from the Test of Written English (TWE) administered simultaneously with the TOEFL at most test locations.

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