UF Writing Requirement
The University of Florida requires that all students complete the Writing Requirement. AICE, AP, CLEP, and IB examination credit as well as dual enrollment or transfer credit may count toward the requirement
To graduate, students must complete courses that involve substantial writing for a total of 24,000 words. Courses that count toward this requirement will be in one of three categories:
- "2": Coursework with at least 2,000 words;
- "4": Coursework with at least 4,000 words;
- "6": Coursework with at least 6,000 words.
Some sections of qualified courses may not offer substantial writing in a particular term. In the Schedule of Courses, the course sections and amount of writing credit awarded (2,000, 4,000 or 6,000) are identified for a given term.
The content of a course approved for the UF Writing Requirement should meet the WR course guidelines, including assignments that contain extended analysis and develop original, sophisticated ideas. the course syllabus must meet the writing requirement syllabus policy (in addition to the UF syllabus Policy) including a writing assessment rubric, and assignments and assessments should conform to the General Education Grade Integrity Policy.
*If the WR course also has a general education designation (i.e., B, C, H, N, M, P and S) it must also conform to the structure of a Gen Ed. course.
Guidelines and Policies
All Writing Requirement courses must follow the guidelines below and the standards set forth in the General Education Syllabus Policy – University Writing Requirement.
- Courses intended to satisfy the writing requirement may not be taken S-U.
- Students may not take the same course multiple times to meet the writing requirement, unless the course allows for multiple registration based on rotating content.
- To receive writing credit, students must complete the writing component satisfactorily and earn a minimum grade of C (2.0) in the course. Students should review their degree audit after receiving grades to confirm credit for the writing component.
- Writing must be evaluated on content, organization, coherence, style, grammar, and punctuation. Assignments should be returned with grades and feedback by the last day of class, or electronically by the end of finals.
- Writing assignments should demonstrate extended analysis and develop original, sophisticated ideas rather than cursory or hastily written work.
- Assignments should include well-crafted paragraphs, a clear thesis or hypothesis, a persuasive structure (e.g., introduction, body, conclusion; or introduction, methods, results, discussion), well-supported claims, and effective stylistic elements.
- Writing evaluation is based on individual work. Class notes, quizzes, in-class assignments, and exams do not count. Team-written documents only count if individual sections can be graded.
- Drafts do not count separately from final submissions toward the total word requirement.
*The syllabus for a course meeting the UF Writing Requirement must include a writing assessment rubric. Please see here for an example.
Criteria for Graded Assignments
Assignments must be returned to students with a grade and comments that address the students' writing skills. consequently, feedback on all assignments should be provided by the last day of class, or, if provided electronically, by the end of finals.
Please see below for examples of what assignments can and cannot be counted towards the UF Writing Requirement.
Extended annotated bibliographies may contribute to the word count if they evidence critical thinking and in-depth analysis. However, they may not be counted if they are simply bibliographies written for a paper or as an exercise to teach a specific disciplinary style, e.g., APA, MLA.
Brochures may not be counted if the assignment is mainly a design and layout exercise, using written information verbatim from another assignment or part of a paper. However, if the brochure is an independent assignment requiring separate research and writing, it may count for the Writing Requirement.
Drafts of papers and essays cannot be counted for the Writing Requirement. In addition, initial ideas expressed in pre-writing exercises, such as topic statements, free-writing, clustering, mind-mapping, outlining, may not count.
Separate but related documents in an extended writing product (such as proposals, brochures, poster boards, progress reports) may contribute to the word count if they are not merely integrated verbatim into the final writing product.
May not be counted if they approximate free writing and lack organization, critical thinking focus, and integration of ideas into the disciplinary context.
While peer reviewing is a recognized and valuable editing skill, and instructors may evaluate such activities as part of the final class grade, peer reviews may not count towards the Writing Requirement word count.
Posters may not be counted if the information on the poster is merely copied from another document. However, if the poster presents new information specifically created for the poster, focused on a particular audience, purpose and context, and contains well-crafted sections of writing, then the poster may count for the Writing Requirement.
Team-written documents may not be counted for credit unless clear individual sections are identified for grading, such that individual students’ writing may be evaluated and graded.
In-class writing assignments, quizzes, class notes, in-class essay examinations may not be counted.