This paper points out that students who earn a Ph.D. in English in a conventional literary curriculum are often totally ignorant of linguistics, rhetoric, and current research in the teaching and learning of composition. Yet such knowledge is invaluable for many reasons. Graduate students can become more accurate critics of their own writing, if they can make use of some of the tools of linguistic or rhetorical analysis. They can become more skillful literary critics and better teachers of both literature and writing. Furthermore, fully one-half of the teaching jobs currently available at the college level include the teaching of composition; therefore, at least one-half of the English doctoral students who plan to teach in four-year colleges and universities ought to have some formal instruction in composition. The paper lists the aims of a graduate concentration in composition, both for M.A. and Ph.D. candidates, and makes a few general suggestions for curriculum requirements for a minor or major in composition. Finally, the paper examines ways in which staffing can be provided for such programs and discusses other resources which the programs might draw on. (GW)