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

Best Technical Writer programs in Texas, ranked by enrollment

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

17 schools in Texas run programs that feed this job, graduating 252 people a year. The job pays a median of $82,750 in Texas across about 3,340 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledTechnical WriterInformation DeveloperTechnical CommunicatorDocumentation SpecialistGrant WriterLexicographerManual WriterReport Writer
Graduates / yr
252
in Texas
Median pay · Texas
$82,750
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
3,340
people employed
Schools
17
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
57%
across those schools
Median net price
$25,162
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Texas that lead to this job

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

4 programs in Texas that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Texas (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 Texas 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 Texas
120
47.6%
11$28,725$25,250
2
CIP 23.1301In Texas
94
37.3%
5$28,725$25,250
3
CIP 09.0908In Texas
32
12.7%
2$39,658$24,500
4
CIP 52.0501In Texas
6
2.4%
1$41,000$26,000

Top 17 schools in Texas

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 17 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
52Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing$39,94369%73%
2The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
40Writing, General$38,71389%27%
3University of North Texas
Denton, TX Public · 2 feeder programs
40Technical and Scientific Communication61%72%
4El Paso Community College
El Paso, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
28Writing, General24%
5Baylor University
Waco, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
25Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing80%$35,68251%
6University of Houston - Downtown
Houston, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
18Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing33%90%
7Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Writing, General86%$25,82344%
8Texas State University
San Marcos, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
9Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing$37,54855%89%
9Saint Edward's University
Austin, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
8Writing, General$31,51863%$24,63081%
10Austin Community College District
Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
6Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing$33,51420%
11Stephen F Austin State University
Nacogdoches, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
6Business/Corporate Communications, General53%94%
12Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
3Technical and Scientific Communication84%57%
13Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
2Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing55%90%
14Texas A & M University - Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
2Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing40%89%
15The University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX Public · 1 feeder programs
2Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing53%87%
16Lubbock Christian University
Lubbock, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing51%$25,16273%
17Our Lady of the Lake University
San Antonio, TX Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing46%$18,564

All 17 schools in Texas

Every school in Texas 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 Texas that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Texas Tech UniversityLubbockPublic522
The University of Texas at AustinAustinPublic401
University of North TexasDentonPublic402
El Paso Community CollegeEl PasoPublic281
Baylor UniversityWacoPrivate not-for-profit251
University of Houston - DowntownHoustonPublic181
Texas Christian UniversityFort WorthPrivate not-for-profit91
Texas State UniversitySan MarcosPublic91
Saint Edward's UniversityAustinPrivate not-for-profit81
Austin Community College DistrictAustinPublic61
Stephen F Austin State UniversityNacogdochesPublic61
Texas A&M University - College StationCollege StationPublic31
Sam Houston State UniversityHuntsvillePublic21
Texas A & M University - Corpus ChristiCorpus ChristiPublic21
The University of Texas at San AntonioSan AntonioPublic21

What technical writers earn in Texas

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

Median annual in Texas
$82,750
Mean annual
$88,140
Jobs in state
3,340
What the range looks like
10th pct$50,590Median$82,75090th pct$127,920
Versus the national median
-8.5%

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

Job concentration
0.81×

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

Metro areas in Texas

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
$88,360median
650 jobs
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
$87,360median
660 jobs
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
$86,520median
1,030 jobs
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
$82,520median
250 jobs
El Paso, TX
$62,830median

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 Texas

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 Texas.

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 120 degrees in Texas in 2024-25, 47.6% 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 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies, Public Relations, Business/Corporate Communications. Together they graduate about 252 people a year in Texas.

How much do technical writers earn in Texas?+

The median is $82,750 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.5% 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 Texas?+

17 institutions in Texas reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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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