After choosing to pursue a copyediting certificate program, the problem becomes finding a prominent school for online certification in editing. Most people would have done coursework in college and might only be looking for courses to refresh their skills. And what few programs out there have very few reviews online. It is difficult to decide on a good program with so little knowledge of what previous students thought (or if there are previous students at all). So, I dug in and did some research to find the best copyediting program to pursue.

Researching Copyediting Certificates

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Criteria

Local programs would be ideal, but most people find it would be hard to fit into a typical schedule. Workshops are great if they are available, but they often don’t end in a certification. There are some other seemingly reputable websites, such as Writer’s Digest, that offer what they claim is a certification course. But for this review, I wanted to focus on the following needs:

1. Completely available online
2. Taught by a trustworthy source, such as a University
3. End in acquiring a certificate
4. Affordable

In the end, there were two options: The University of Chicago Graham School or the University of California – San Diego Extension. I’ll break down each program before I get into which I chose to pursue and review further.

The University of Chicago Graham School

The biggest appeal of this school is the name. Who wouldn’t want to be certified by the University who wrote the quintessential style guide? They offer an Editing Certificate, achievable through five courses, possibly completed in a total of three quarters.

Courses

Each course is approximately four to six weeks in length. You begin with Basic Manuscript Editing, follow it up with Intermediate and Advanced Manuscript Editing, and finally Editing Electronically. You must also choose one elective, only some of which are available online, which range from grammar to an introduction to medical editing. On their website, it says that the courses have weekly live sessions, either on weekday evenings or Saturday mornings. Outside of these sessions, there are required readings and other assignments. There isn’t a lot of detail in the course descriptions.

Maybe because of these shorter courses–only four to six weeks as opposed to a normal quarter length–you could find yourself having just missed out on a course and waiting a few months for it to roll around again. And many of the electives only seem to be available once per year online. For instance, one of the four electives available online, Essentials of Grammar for Professionals, is only available during the Winter quarter and happens to run from March to April. Determining your courseload and coursework requires a lot of planning before you even register.

Registration and Price

They recommend you apply to the program two months in advance, and this is what they require:

• Online application
• Personal statement
• Resume
• $40 fee

Tuition ranges from $975, per course, up to $1,125. This means with five classes, you are looking at a minimum of $5,000.

There are very few reviews for this program and the continuing studies extension school itself. Their website was sharp-looking, but I had trouble finding the information I needed. When were these online courses beginning? Was I able to start at any time or were there still structured timeframes? Was book editing the only focus, or would there be any lessons given over manuals or articles? I reached out through email, but each email gave the same line, over and over, that was on their website. The third email finally gave me a link to the catalog with actual dates and times for the 2018 courses.

The University of California – San Diego Extension (UCSD)

While not the writers of a style manual, UC-San Diego is a very reputable school. In fact, I found more reviews and comments regarding this certificate program than I did for the Graham School in general. Most people commented that it was challenging, rewarding, and worth their time to achieve. However, there weren’t many details about the program itself.

Courses

There are four required courses that can be completed in nine to twelve months, depending on how you approach them. Each course has a very simple title of Copyediting I, II, and III. Grammar Lab is the fourth course. It can be taken at the same time as Copyediting I but must be done before II. The courses are a normal quarter-length time, approximately ten weeks.

The descriptions of the courses are nice and detailed with a lot of information on what to expect from each. There is no requirement to be online at a particular time, but there are assignments for each week. Work is done through the Blackboard system, and they estimate the amount of work each week to be three hours online and six hours offline.

They offer a free informational session which you can take to learn more about their program. It only requires you to create an account and register. They also claim to have two elective classes that do not count toward the certificate, Marketing and Digital Skills; however, neither have sessions available, and I read multiple comments that this has been the case for some time.

Registration and Price

While they do not specify a timeframe to apply, they do suggest applying as soon as possible. Here is what they require:

• Create an account
• Online application
• $60 fee (maybe increasing to $90-95 in February)

Tuition is $495 per course. With only four courses required, you are looking at $2,000, less than half of Graham School.

The Comparison

There were a few factors that I considered in making my final decision.

1. Name Recognition

It’s safe to say that The University of Chicago would appear more illustrious on a resume when it comes to editing. However, there were a couple nagging thoughts. First, it wasn’t just “The University of Chicago,” it was their continuing education school, Graham. Also, how much does the name matter for something like a certificate, especially if all other factors are equal.

2. Course Focus

Even after repeated requests, the best I could get out of Graham was that it was a certificate “designed to help individuals enter the publishing industry.” They seem to focus solely on manuscript editing while UCSD provided a basic framework for the entire editing industry. Did you want to hedge your bets and narrow your expertise? And while an online session with classmates and a teacher is a great addition, having to be online at a specific time each week might be hard to fit into certain lifestyles.

3. Timeline

Graham offered a quicker path to starting a business. At least, it appeared that way at first. Both could technically be finished in three quarters, with UCSD taking at most one year. Graham’s scheduling of classes and electives complicated that timeline, making it difficult to determine when you would finish or if you would finish taking the courses you truly wanted.

4. Cost

I think it’s obvious here. We are talking less than half the price to attend UCSD.

Making the Decision

With all other factors leaning toward UCSD, it came down to name recognition. Was the name of the program on a resume worth that extra cost. For me, no. The people that might care to see that name is just too small a margin to pay double when on a budget. Not to mention, that an extra $3,000 could be spent on additional certification. For those that want to completely focus on a niche market and want that name recognition, then the Graham School may be right for you.

I would recommend pursuing the Copyediting Certificate program at UCSD. In fact, that is what I did. You can read my review of the program here and look at my business page to see how the certificate has helped me.