The following information is designed to answer your questions about the Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR) which is required for all students earning either bachelor's or master's degrees at Cal Poly.

In 1976, the Trustees of the California State University System responded to both business community and university demands to reverse the decline in graduating students’ writing skills. They stated that all students seeking a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree must “be required to demonstrate their proficiency with regard to writing skills as a requirement for graduation.” The Trustees also decreed that students’ writing skills be tested after completing ninety (90) quarter units. Thus, the California State University System established the Graduation Writing Requirement to assure that students have maintained the ability to write proficiently at the time of graduation and before they enter the professional work force.

Cal Poly responded positively to the Trustees’ mandate and created two options for fulfilling the Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR):

1. Pass the Writing Proficiency Exam (WPE) ($25 fee/not offered summer quarter) with a score of eight out of a twelve-points possible.

2. Pass a GWR-approved upper-divison course with a grade of C or better AND receive certification of proficiency in writing based on a 500-word in-class essay. Select carefully from the following NON-GE WRITING courses: English 301, 302, 310, 317, 326; or from these GE C4 LITERATURE courses: 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 345, 346, 347, 349, 350, 351, 352, 354, 370, 371, 372, 380, or 381. Check your catalog to see which courses also meet USCP requirements as well, or visit the Academic Programs website. GWR certification is NOT available through London Study courses.

The University English Department has established the GWR certification standards and specification guidelines which must be met within the English courses in Option 2. If a student chooses Option 2 to meet the GWR, he or she must inform the instructor teaching that course and students may attempt to write a proficient in-class essay more than once. Check with your curriculum sheet to see if you need an area C.4 general education course or the USCP requirement. Many--BUT NOT ALL--of the courses in Option 2 are also accepted for the other requirements, so you could meet more than one requirement in the same course.

What this means is you can either take a GWR-approved upper-divison course, OR you can take the WPE, which costs $25 and is given at 9 a.m. on a Saturday early in the quarter Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. During the Summer quarter, course work is the only option available. Test dates and sign-up deadlines are published in the Test section of the Student Planning Calendar in the Class Schedule.

Lucky for you, the Writing Skills Office has gathered information which leads us to “The Questions I Want Answered but Don’t Know Who to Ask” section.

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