Indiana·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-3042

Best Technical Writer programs in Indiana, ranked by enrollment

Write technical materials, such as equipment manuals, appendices, or operating and maintenance instructions.

13 schools in Indiana run programs that feed this job, graduating 98 people a year. The job pays a median of $75,510 in Indiana across about 540 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledTechnical WriterInformation DeveloperTechnical CommunicatorDocumentation SpecialistGrant WriterLexicographerManual WriterReport Writer
Graduates / yr
98
in Indiana
Median pay · Indiana
$75,510
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
540
people employed
Schools
13
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
60%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,593
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Indiana that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

6 programs in Indiana that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Indiana (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Indiana page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 23.1303In Indiana
30
30.6%
6$28,725$25,250
2
CIP 52.0501In Indiana
30
30.6%
1$41,000$26,000
3
CIP 09.0908In Indiana
12
12.2%
3$39,658$24,500
4
CIP 52.0599In Indiana
11
11.2%
1$41,000$26,000
5
CIP 23.1301In Indiana
10
10.2%
7$28,725$25,250
6
CIP 52.0502In Indiana
5
5.1%
1$41,000$26,000

Top 13 schools in Indiana

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 13 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Purdue University - Main Campus
West Lafayette, IN Public · 4 feeder programs
64Business/Corporate Communications, General83%50%
2Indiana University - Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN Public · 3 feeder programs
11Grantsmanship54%76%
3Ball State University
Muncie, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
6Technical and Scientific Communication$38,02062%85%
4Taylor University
Upland, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing$25,47174%$20,83674%
5Anderson University
Anderson, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Writing, General54%$21,78979%
6Indiana University - Bloomington
Bloomington, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
2Writing, General80%78%
7Indiana University - East
Richmond, IN Public · 2 feeder programs
2Writing, General40%67%
8University of Evansville
Evansville, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Writing, General64%$19,59378%
9University of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing56%$18,93066%
10Goshen College
Goshen, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Writing, General65%$15,43084%
11Huntington University
Huntington, IN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Writing, General64%$13,05676%
12Indiana University - Kokomo
Kokomo, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
1Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing46%86%
13Indiana University - Southeast
New Albany, IN Public · 1 feeder programs
1Writing, General39%84%

All 13 schools in Indiana

Every school in Indiana with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Indiana that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Purdue University - Main CampusWest LafayettePublic644
Indiana University - IndianapolisIndianapolisPublic113
Ball State UniversityMunciePublic61
Taylor UniversityUplandPrivate not-for-profit31
Anderson UniversityAndersonPrivate not-for-profit21
Indiana University - BloomingtonBloomingtonPublic21
Indiana University - EastRichmondPublic22
University of EvansvilleEvansvillePrivate not-for-profit21
University of IndianapolisIndianapolisPrivate not-for-profit21
Goshen CollegeGoshenPrivate not-for-profit11
Huntington UniversityHuntingtonPrivate not-for-profit11
Indiana University - KokomoKokomoPublic11
Indiana University - SoutheastNew AlbanyPublic11

What technical writers earn in Indiana

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Indiana
$75,510
Mean annual
$78,400
Jobs in state
540
What the range looks like
10th pct$52,350Median$75,51090th pct$106,680
Versus the national median
-16.5%

U.S. median $90,390. Indiana pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.58×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Indiana

Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
$82,970median
240 jobs
Elkhart-Goshen, IN
$63,570median
40 jobs
Fort Wayne, IN
$60,480median
40 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+0.9%
Little or no change
Openings per year
4,500
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
500
56,400 → 56,900
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus short-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Technical Writers page.

How to become a Technical Writer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years
On-the-job training
Short-term on-the-job training

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

WritingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingActive Learning

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Indiana

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 7 majors mapped to Technical Writers7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 09.0908Technical and Scientific Communication
  • 19.0202Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Communication
  • 23.1301Writing, General
  • 23.1303Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing
  • 52.0501Business/Corporate Communications, General
  • 52.0502Grantsmanship
  • 52.0599Business/Corporate Communications, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing technical writers programs in Indiana.

What degree do you need to become a Technical Writer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing, which awarded 30 degrees in Indiana in 2024-25, 30.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Technical Writer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business/Corporate Communications, Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 98 people a year in Indiana.

How much do technical writers earn in Indiana?+

The median is $75,510 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 16.5% below the U.S. median of $90,390. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for technical writers growing?+

BLS projects a +0.9% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 4,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Indiana?+

13 institutions in Indiana reported graduates from at least one of the 6 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do technical writers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Technical Writer, Information Developer, Technical Communicator, Documentation Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-3042.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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