Composition studies (also referred to as
college composition,
writing studies, or simply
composition) is the professional field of
writing, research, and instruction, focusing especially on writing at the college level in the
United States. In many American colleges and universities, undergraduate
students must take
freshman — sometimes even higher — composition courses. For example, in
California, all public
colleges and
universities have freshman and
sophomore composition courses as requirements. Composition studies is a major area of research within the discipline of
Rhetoric and Composition (also referred to as
composition and rhetoric).