Learnings and Letdowns from the Copyediting Certificate Program at UCSD

UPDATE on March 2, 2020: UCSD has made me aware that they’ve made several changes to this program. Notably, you can now take only one class per quarter (i.e. the program will take a full year), and the cost is now $595/course. See more details in the comments below.

I recently completed the University of California in San Diego’s copyediting certificate program. In online editing and writing communities, the program is touted as one of the best copyediting courses out there, and UCSD itself promises introduction to tools, techniques, and topics that ensure a successful career.

With expectations thus embellished, I enrolled about a year ago.

The program is available through UCSD’s web-based extension platform. It consists of four ten-week courses, two of which you can follow simultaneously. This means that you can complete the entire program in either nine months or one year (I did it in one year). Each course demands a time commitment of between six to ten hours a week. On top of that, the program is not cheap at $425 per course, plus books.

So, was it worthwhile?

Top Learnings

  • I learned a lot, particularly from the first course, Grammar Lab. While I felt I had a pretty good grasp of grammar before the course, it definitely filled in some gaps, and moreover it has enabled me to explain the grammar conventions behind my edits to others. Subsequent courses offered plenty of opportunity for practice and introduced some guiding principles that have made me a more confident editor.
  • I was introduced to resources, reference works, and communities that I was not previously familiar with and that I am certain will be helpful in the future. Amy Einsohn’s The Copyeditor’s Handbook is an invaluable reference, the CE-L listserv is brimming with advice and opportunities, and mnemonics like the one below made me laugh.
  • I found the academic level of this program to be very high. Clearly, instructors are knowledgeable, and quizzes and assignments require that you get through your readings and pay attention.
  • Completing the program does indeed take time. Especially the last course, Copyediting III, during which you continuously work to complete a heavy edit of a thirty-page document for the final exam, required many hours of work.
  • Being based outside the US, I had a hard time obtaining the required books. An unrelated trip to New York and an incredibly accommodating bookstore in Taipei were my saviors.
Hyperbole and a Half's Alot

Hyperbole and a Half’s mythical creature, the alot.

Top Letdowns

  • Reading materials, quizzes, and assignments were clearly recycled from previous years, which led to a suboptimal experience. For example, we were at one point asked to read a document on “the copyediting practices of the publishing industry today,” which turned out to be almost twenty years old. It was, of course, hopelessly outdated.
  • Despite promises of “ensuring a successful career,” the program very rarely touched on the career or business aspects of copyediting, which I think is a missed opportunity. However, UCSD does supposedly offer a course on editing as a business, but I haven’t seen it scheduled yet.
  • Taking a class online is obviously not the same as walking into a classroom—you don’t experience the same camaraderie or sense of community. Yet, I’ve followed other online courses during which this kind of intimacy was better approximated, through videoconferences, for example.

Final Score

In my opinion, UCSD’s copyediting certificate program does provide a very thorough, very instructive introduction to the copyediting discipline. After completing the program, I feel much better positioned to help clients with their editing needs. In addition, the program brought me closer to a field that I find both professionally and personally satisfying. I’d recommend this program to peers looking to build or improve their editing skills.

19 thoughts on “Learnings and Letdowns from the Copyediting Certificate Program at UCSD

  • May 26, 2016 at 10:29 pm
    Permalink

    Hello,

    Thanks for the write up. I am seriously thinking of taking this course. I am a newbie in this field, in fact doing a career path change. I have a flair for reading and writing and looking for your inputs to me who has no clue on the career prospects if I take the course. How and where do I start. (Gone through the details of the above university mentioned).

    Thank you.

    Reply
  • August 16, 2016 at 4:40 am
    Permalink

    Thanks a lot for this thorough review. I’m trying to decide what program to take and I found it really useful.

    Reply
  • October 10, 2017 at 3:50 am
    Permalink

    Thanks for your review. I am considering re-registering for the copyediting certificate extension program through UCSD. (I was actually previously enrolled in this program but had to withdraw due to financial difficulties.) I appreciate your honest appraisal of this program! Your input was very helpful to me.

    Reply
  • February 23, 2018 at 5:27 pm
    Permalink

    This information is exactly what I need to make a decision. Thank you!

    Reply
  • April 9, 2018 at 3:26 pm
    Permalink

    How much is the program?

    Reply
    • April 17, 2018 at 2:58 pm
      Permalink

      Thanks for this comment and apologies for the late response. I don’t recall the price exactly, but maybe something like $400 per course? I recommend checking their website for up-to-date prices. Marianne

      Reply
  • April 17, 2018 at 2:54 pm
    Permalink

    I’m currently enrolled and just barely got through Week Two of Grammar Lab. I’ve never felt more inadequate and unintelligent in my life; I simply can’t get all of the terms and rules into my head. So, I am about five minutes from dropping the course and the copyediting program for which I had such an initial enthusiasm. I honestly wasn’t expecting the first course to be so challenging right out of the gate.

    Reply
    • April 17, 2018 at 3:01 pm
      Permalink

      If I recall correctly, I found Grammar Lab to be the most boring part of the program, if that makes sense. Because it a lot of just learning rules and conventions. But then later on, when it all comes together and you start applying the rules, I thought it became more fun. So I’d recommend sticking with it — at least for a little while longer? Marianne

      Reply
  • April 26, 2018 at 4:54 pm
    Permalink

    Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on the program. I see that you did not take Grammar Lab concurrently with Copyediting I. May I ask your opinion on the wisdom of taking the two classes at the same time? I work full time, but I’m nevertheless contemplating tackling both at once; am I insane?

    Reply
  • May 28, 2018 at 3:17 pm
    Permalink

    Marianne –

    Have you heard about the University of Washington’s program? It isn’t an online program, but I was wondering how you think it compares to UCSD if you’re familiar with it at all.

    Reply
  • July 5, 2018 at 6:26 pm
    Permalink

    Did you receive a certificate or some type of accreditation for the class completed entirely?

    Reply
  • August 2, 2018 at 7:15 pm
    Permalink

    Would you recommend taking the grammar lab and editing 1 class at the same time or separately?

    Reply
    • September 13, 2018 at 6:11 am
      Permalink

      Hi Dana, and also Evangeline above,

      Re. taking Grammar Lab and Copyediting I at the same time, I think it depends entirely on the time you have available. I think it’s feasible to do it, meaning I’d probably not consider it a huge advantage to have all of Grammar Lab completed before doing Copyediting I, as long as you start with some OK level of grammar. But, it’d be a time commitment for sure.

      Hope it’s helpful – oly have my own experience to share! Marianne

      Reply
  • September 12, 2018 at 10:32 pm
    Permalink

    Does anybody have any experience or information on UC Berkeley’s editing certificate program. Trying to decide between UC Berkeley’s and UC San Diego.
    Thanks!
    Michelle

    Reply
    • March 2, 2019 at 5:09 am
      Permalink

      I was wondering the same thing. Did you end up at UCSD or Berkeley? How did you decide?

      Reply
  • December 7, 2018 at 12:40 am
    Permalink

    Michelle,

    Which did you choose, UCSD or UCB? Trying to do so now. 🙂 Thanks! 🙂 Sati

    Reply
  • July 4, 2019 at 1:00 pm
    Permalink

    l am not impressed with Berkeley’s course. Some of the materials are outdated. The Berkeley module readings are, at best, a near copy of the assigned books. Assignments often fail to reflect that week’s content. Overall, it’s a poor design, and expensive at about 700 per course.

    Reply
  • February 27, 2020 at 12:55 am
    Permalink

    Hello, everyone!

    I am the Program Manager of the UC San Diego Copyediting Certificate Program and I wanted to let you know that we’ve made some exciting changes since this blog post in 2014, all of which address the letdowns listed above. Starting winter 2020, our entire certificate program has been revamped. We combed through years of evaluations and surveyed thousands of student to find out what kind of changes they’d hope to see. From that data, we created a new outline for our classes that kept all of the positive aspects of the program, changed areas that students did not like, and incorporated their suggestions. Our newly revamped program has improved lectures (3 short lectures per week), along with extra in depth practice exercises, and a more meaningful Discussion Board that promotes a stronger class community. One of the most requested items from students was more guidance for pursuing a career in copyediting, and we are very excited to now have this as part of our Copyediting I-III classes, through lessons, exercises, networking activities, and by sharing ongoing professional SMART goals each quarter. And for those student who want to dive more deeply in to this subject, we are happy to announce that we have a brand new six-week course launching this spring 2020, that will be offered every quarter and is now open for enrollment, called The Business of Copyediting. Thank you, Marianne, for sharing information about our Copyediting Certificate program with other potential students. We appreciate your honest review. It is input like this that helps us to improve our classes. Below are some additional updates that have been made to our program since 2014:

    • Regarding outdated material that was mentioned above, the entire program has been revamped as of winter 2020. The newly designed classes have current material and will be continuously updated.
    • The capstone course, Copyediting III, has a brand new manuscript that was designed particularly for this program in order to put in to practice all of the areas learned in the previous classes.
    • In our new redesign of the program, we worked very hard to create a better sense of community through meaningful Discussion Board topics and improved instructor participation. Videoconferences are a great idea, and something we can consider for the future!
    • Grammar Lab is now a prerequisite for Copyediting I.
    • Students can only take one class per quarter (10 weeks), so they can complete the certificate in as little as one year.
    • The price listed in this blog post is from 2014. As of 2020, classes are now $595 per course, and we still have the most competitive pricing compared to all other programs in the U.S.
    • Starting summer 2020 all classes will move to a more user friendly platform called Canvas.
    • We also plan on offering additional electives, based on student requests, over the next couple of years.

    If you’d like any additional information, please feel free to reach out to us at ahl@ucsd.edu or 858-534-5760. Marianne, we’d love for you to check out our new classes and our new format if you are interested! Thanks again for the review.

    Reply
  • June 2, 2020 at 7:02 pm
    Permalink

    Im deciding between Grammar Lab sections and wondering if you can recommend a particular instructor. Thanks!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Jane Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *