New Hampshire·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-3043

Best Writer programs in New Hampshire, ranked by enrollment

Originate and prepare written material, such as scripts, stories, advertisements, and other.

13 schools in New Hampshire run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,120 people a year. The job pays a median of $71,830 in New Hampshire across about 180 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledAuthorNovelistCopywriterSongwriterFreelance WriterFreelance CopywriterAdvertising CopywriterAdvertisement Agency Copywriter (Ad Agency Copywriter)
Graduates / yr
1,120
in New Hampshire
Median pay · New Hampshire
$71,830
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
180
people employed
Schools
13
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
50%
across those schools
Median net price
$29,600
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in New Hampshire that lead to this job

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

7 programs in New Hampshire that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in New Hampshire (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 New Hampshire page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1790
70.5%
4$28,725$25,250
2227
20.3%
5$34,858$25,000
369
6.2%
2$28,725$25,250
426
2.3%
4$34,858$25,000
55
0.4%
2$41,000$26,000
62
0.2%
1$20,667$24,994
71
0.1%
1$34,858$25,000

Top 13 schools in New Hampshire

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 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
1Southern New Hampshire University
Manchester, NH Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
817Creative Writing$30,07743%$34,565100%
2University of New Hampshire - Main Campus
Durham, NH Public · 2 feeder programs
167Speech Communication and Rhetoric$43,55176%88%
3Plymouth State University
Plymouth, NH Public · 1 feeder programs
30Speech Communication and Rhetoric$31,29352%88%
4New England College
Henniker, NH Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
27Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing35%$30,08692%
5Saint Anselm College
Manchester, NH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
21Speech Communication and Rhetoric$43,81980%$29,60078%
6Keene State College
Keene, NH Public · 1 feeder programs
13Speech Communication and Rhetoric$34,37260%90%
7NHTI - Concord's Community College
Concord, NH Public · 1 feeder programs
10Communication, General29%
8University of New Hampshire at Manchester
Manchester, NH Public · 1 feeder programs
10Speech Communication and Rhetoric$43,55150%81%
9Franklin Pierce University
Rindge, NH Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Communication, General$26,89954%$26,34493%
10Colby - Sawyer College
New London, NH Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
7Creative Writing57%$21,74780%
11Nashua Community College
Nashua, NH Public · 1 feeder programs
4Communication, General38%
12Manchester Community College
Manchester, NH Public · 1 feeder programs
3Business/Corporate Communications, General41%
13University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies Online
Manchester, NH Public · 1 feeder programs
2Business/Corporate Communications, General30%

All 13 schools in New Hampshire

Every school in New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchesterPrivate not-for-profit8172
University of New Hampshire - Main CampusDurhamPublic1672
Plymouth State UniversityPlymouthPublic301
New England CollegeHennikerPrivate not-for-profit274
Saint Anselm CollegeManchesterPrivate not-for-profit211
Keene State CollegeKeenePublic131
NHTI - Concord's Community CollegeConcordPublic101
University of New Hampshire at ManchesterManchesterPublic101
Franklin Pierce UniversityRindgePrivate not-for-profit91
Colby - Sawyer CollegeNew LondonPrivate not-for-profit72
Nashua Community CollegeNashuaPublic41
Manchester Community CollegeManchesterPublic31
University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies OnlineManchesterPublic21

What writers and authors earn in New Hampshire

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

Median annual in New Hampshire
$71,830
Mean annual
$79,310
Jobs in state
180
What the range looks like
10th pct$43,200Median$71,83090th pct$132,870
Versus the national median
-6.6%

U.S. median $76,910. New Hampshire pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.85×

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

Metro areas in New Hampshire

Manchester-Nashua, NH
$64,010median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.6%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
13,400
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,900
135,400 → 140,300
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus long-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 Writers and Authors page.

How to become a Writer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
On-the-job training
Long-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 ComprehensionSpeakingActive ListeningCritical ThinkingActive Learning

The same job in other states

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

Related careers in New Hampshire

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 19 majors mapped to Writers and Authors19 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 09.0100Communication, General
  • 09.0101Speech Communication and Rhetoric
  • 09.0102Mass Communication/Media Studies
  • 09.0401Journalism
  • 09.0402Broadcast Journalism
  • 09.9999Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other
  • 19.0202Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Communication
  • 23.1301Writing, General
  • 23.1302Creative Writing
  • 23.1303Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing
  • 23.1304Rhetoric and Composition
  • 23.1399Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies, Other
  • 23.1401General Literature
  • 23.1405Children's and Adolescent Literature
  • 23.1499Literature, Other
  • 50.0504Playwriting and Screenwriting
  • 50.0511Comedy Writing and Performance
  • 52.0501Business/Corporate Communications, General
  • 52.0599Business/Corporate Communications, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing writers and authors programs in New Hampshire.

What degree do you need to become a Writer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Creative Writing, which awarded 790 degrees in New Hampshire in 2024-25, 70.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Writer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies, Communication and Media Studies, Business/Corporate Communications, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 1,120 people a year in New Hampshire.

How much do writers and authors earn in New Hampshire?+

The median is $71,830 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.6% below the U.S. median of $76,910. 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 writers and authors growing?+

BLS projects a +3.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 13,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in New Hampshire?+

13 institutions in New Hampshire reported graduates from at least one of the 7 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 writers and authors work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Author, Novelist, Copywriter, Songwriter, Freelance Writer, Freelance Copywriter among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-3043.

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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