Technology - Technical communication

This program builds skills employers value across industries, including critical thinking, communication and problem-solving. Coursework also strengthens your ability to analyze information, manage projects and make systems-driven decisions.

You’ll explore four topic areas to become career-ready:

• Global and natural science perspectives
  • Learn to think scientifically, interpret data and explore global challenges in science and technology.
• Humanities, identities and society
  • Study culture, identity and human behavior through history, philosophy and the arts.
• National and civil service and professional studies
  • Explore government, civic leadership and ethical practices in public and professional settings.
• Organizations, technology and ethics
  • Understand how organizations function, use digital tools and apply ethics in practical settings.

Build on your previously earned credits with this transfer-friendly program

ASU values your previously earned credits and has designed this program to minimize credit loss. With a broad range of courses, you can tailor how you complete your remaining degree requirements.

You’re an ideal candidate if earning a bachelor’s degree supports your goals, whether you want to shift careers, advance in your current role, prepare for graduate school or achieve personal milestones. Completing a widely recognized general studies degree can help you stand out as a well-rounded candidate with marketable skills.

How three of our most flexible programs compare

Our most flexible degrees — general studies, interdisciplinary studies and liberal studies — share a commonality of choice and transferability. Housed in a college with advisors who specialize in supporting students with diverse interests, these programs enable you to explore multiple areas of study. Each offers a different level of customization and structure. Discover the best option for your goals:

• General studies
  • Finish your degree efficiently by applying the credits you’ve already earned. By choosing the most flexible path, you’ll build career-relevant skills and graduate with the academic credentials needed for advancement.
• Interdisciplinary studies
  • Design a degree that combines two areas of study and builds transferable expertise from nearly 200 concentrations. This is a strong option for gaining focused knowledge aligned with your career goals or graduate study.
• Liberal studies
  • Pursue a humanities-based education and tailor your course plan to your interests. This degree combines structure and choice, offering a broad foundation to explore diverse academic paths.

This program bridges the gap between complex scientific and medical information and the diverse audiences who need to understand it. The curriculum emphasizes communication theory, health literacy, information design and medical writing. You’ll learn to collaborate with health care professionals and researchers to improve access to accurate and life-impacting information.

Accessible health communication supports patients, but its reach goes further. Health care organizations and communities rely on clear, accurate messaging to support informed decisions. Your writing expertise will prepare you to pursue roles in medical writing, health education, regulatory documentation and digital health media.

The skills you’ll learn

Through hands-on practice, you’ll develop a specialty in communicating health information ethically and effectively for user needs. You’ll also gain experience with industry tools such as design software, content management systems and documentation platforms. Applied coursework includes opportunities to build skills you'll use in your career, such as:

• Creating digital content for health care platforms
• Developing accessible patient education resources
• Producing public health campaigns
• Translating scientific and medical data for non-experts
• Writing regulatory and compliance documents

Who’s a good candidate for this program?

This concentration in medical and health is ideal for strong communicators interested in nonclinical work in medicine, public health or health care systems. Medical documentation requires precision, so an eye for detail is essential. You’ll also thrive in this program and the field if you’re empathetic and committed to improving public health literacy.

Professionals skilled in writing, editing and translating complex information into accessible content are needed in nearly every industry. If you have experience in a health or medical environment or want to break into the field, this specialized branch of technical writing offers a rewarding path. If you’re more interested in broader applications of technical communication, ASU’s online technical communication bachelor’s is an alternative to consider.

Social media managers operate in fast-paced environments where they balance strategy with real-time communication. They’re also responsible for ensuring messages reflect the cultural, social and economic values of the communities they serve.

Taught through a technical communication lens, this program trains you to create content about, for and through digital technology. You’ll focus on writing for specific audiences, managing design projects and supporting ethical, accessible communication across platforms.

This concentration takes an interdisciplinary approach. The curriculum integrates business skills, content production, organizational communication and crisis and reputation management — topics often spread across departments at other universities. At ASU, they’re combined in one program that prepares you for a professional career in social media.

The knowledge and skills you’ll develop

Projects focus on writing, design and strategic content creation. You’ll also work with visual, video and audio formats to expand your digital communication abilities.

The curriculum covers topics such as podcasting, data visualization, grant writing, accessibility, global communication and usability testing. You’ll also gain insight into the history, theory and techniques of professional social media production. Key skills include:

• Advanced technology use for content creation
• Content development and management
• Cross-cultural communication and collaboration
• Writing for specific audiences

Social media evolves quickly, so course content is regularly updated to reflect new tools and best practices.

Who’s a good candidate for this program?

This program is ideal if you’re interested in professional communication roles within businesses, nonprofits or government settings. Coursework focuses on organizational strategy, including customer service, content planning and crisis communication.

This is not a journalism degree focused on news production. If you’re more interested in media theory and analysis, the Bachelor of Arts in mass communication and media studies may be a better fit.

Data visualization focuses on increasing universal access to data using a variety of visual design techniques. The three primary benefits of earning a data visualization degree concentration include, but aren’t limited to:

• Career opportunities.
  • Diverse skills increase your marketability and may open doors for career opportunities in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.
  • New career opportunities in the fields of data analysis, data visualization and data specialization.
  • Other career opportunities in the fields of graphic design and content management.
• Personal development.
  • Further your skills and theory of data management, helping you understand, manage, normalize, create and visualize different types of data according to best practices.
  • Learn how to independently analyze and scrutinize sources of data, including publicly available datasets.
• Professional competencies.
  • Understanding the theory of data management allows you to manage, normalize, create and visualize many types of data using best practices.
  • Gaining knowledge about graphic design and visual communication principles enables you to design infographics, informational posters and other media that increase accessibility to information.
  • Independently analyze and scrutinize many sources of data, including publicly available datasets.

Earning a data visualization degree concentration prepares you to join a field with high demand in data-related occupations. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment for data scientists is projected to grow 35% from 2022 to 2032, which is much faster than average for all occupations. The median annual salary in 2022 for data scientists was $103,500 and typically requires earning a bachelor’s degree in a related field.

The skills you’ll develop in this program

During this program, you'll explore a variety of topics you can apply to your career, such as graphic design, data visualization, infographic development and data analysis. You’ll also learn about the structure of digital information and all facets of data management. Skills you’ll develop include:

• Collaborating with people of diverse backgrounds.
• Conducting user research to create complex communication products.
• Creating communication pieces in multiple media formats.
• Managing design projects.
• Writing clearly and effectively for specific audiences.

Data visualization and technical communication are integral to driving strategic decisions across industries. This data visualization degree concentration prepares you to organize and present data in appealing visuals, ultimately making information easy to understand for wide audiences.

How does this program compare to other technical communication degree concentrations?

This bachelor’s in technical communication with a concentration in data visualization provides foundational knowledge in technical writing with a focus on visual data. As part of the technical communication core curriculum, you’ll learn the fundamentals of technical communication and practice principles of technical editing. After completing your core curriculum, you’ll take data visualization concentration courses that help you advance your data visualization tools and techniques. Upon graduation, you’ll be prepared for a variety of careers in data or technical communication.

If you’re interested in exploring other aspects of technical communication, you may also consider the following ASU Online programs:

• Bachelor of Science in technical communication with a concentration in social media management.
  • In this program, you’ll take courses that focus on writing, design, management and other techniques for producing a variety of content. In your social media concentration courses, you’ll develop insight into the opportunities, concerns and demands associated with professional social media management.
• Bachelor of Science in technical communication with a concentration in user experience.
  • In this program, you’ll take courses that emphasize technical communication, while incorporating relevant context from fields such as human systems engineering and graphic information technology. In your user experience courses, you’ll gain a foundation in UX concepts and their application to real-world assignments.