Marshall University Paper Format & Writing Requirements

Marshall University at a glance

The 1837 academy on the Ohio River that became one of West Virginia's two research universities, known for the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, the W. Page Pitt journalism school, and a football legacy rebuilt after the 1970 crash that the film We Are Marshall carried worldwide.

The campus sits in Huntington, West Virginia, operates as a public institution, and enrolls about 13,000 students — a scale that directly shapes how writing support works. Founded in 1837 with an acceptance rate around 90%, Marshall University pairs selective admissions with the large-course writing loads typical of its category.

Citation styles Marshall University actually requires

Marshall University courses predominantly require APA 7 or MLA 9 or Chicago 18. That is not a trivial preference: it decides your title page, heading levels, in-text punctuation and reference format on every graded document.

• APA 7: used across social science, nursing and business courses
• MLA 9: used across humanities and writing-sequence courses
• Chicago 18: used across the university's signature programs

Verify against the specific course syllabus anyway — instructors can override departmental defaults, and the first paper is where they enforce it.

The writing requirement, decoded

The two-semester composition sequence anchors first years, journalism majors run deadline-heavy reporting loads, and the Writing Center in the Drinko Library tutors across every college.

Plan the sequence early: composition requirements compound, and students who defer them discover the advanced seminars — where the writing-intensity lives — conflict with major courses later. The registrar's degree audit shows exactly which flags remain; check it each semester.

Three things about Marshall University papers that surprise new students

• On November 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932 — returning from a game at East Carolina — crashed near Huntington, killing 75 including most of the football team and staff; the memorial fountain at the campus center carries the names every November.
• Marco the Bison, the bronze statue by the stadium, gets his nose rubbed for luck before games, a ritual so embedded that the statue's snout stays polished year-round.
• The Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine trains physicians for Appalachia, and its rural-health rotations reach clinics across mountain counties that few medical schools serve.

None of these appear in the course description. All of them appear in the rubric. Students who learn them in week one report smoother first-semesters than students who meet them at the deadline.

Assignments Marshall University students face most

• Essay — most frequently assigned across Marshall University's programs
• Research Paper — most frequently assigned across Marshall University's programs
• Coursework — most frequently assigned across Marshall University's programs
• Case Study — most frequently assigned across Marshall University's programs
• Term Paper — most frequently assigned across Marshall University's programs

Popular programs at Marshall University include medicine (joan c. edwards school), journalism and mass communications (w. page pitt school), nursing — each pairs the assignment list above with its own capstone or practicum expectations, detailed on our subject pages.