English M.A.

M.A.
Credits: 30
Location: Greeley
Admissions: Fall and Spring

We offer the funding, instruction and individual attention usually reserved for doctoral programs. We have small classes and mentoring faculty. You’ll have opportunities to conduct research and present at national and regional conferences. You’ll have opportunities to lead undergraduate composition classes as a teaching assistant. You could help shape departmental programs as a graduate assistant. You’ll also find a strong sense of community and connection with faculty and students, within and beyond the classroom. We offer many evening courses so you can complete the program on a schedule that fits your needs.

The M.A. program offers courses in three distinct areas:

• Literature and Language

• Rhetoric and Composition

• Professionalization

These areas allow you to pursue your interests and improve your employability. Students are able to choose one of two tracks to complete their M.A. program:

• You complete a research-based project .

• You complete the comprehensive exams.

• You complete an extended project.

Master’s Project 
This is an ideal option if you plan to pursue a doctorate. The project usually takes the form of a research paper, but can also involve creative work such as poems or short stories. You can decide your project’s focus and consult with program faculty to build the project around your career goals. This project culminates with a public presentation to an audience of students and faculty.

Comprehensive Exam
This is a written examinations administered over a two-day period. You’ll respond to questions about texts taken from reading lists based on your interest areas.

Extended Project
This option allows you to complete a year-long research-based project weighted at 12 credits. Please visit the M.A. Research Project webpage for details.

Where can your degree take you?
A Master of Arts in English can open diverse career pathways. Our graduates have applied their education everywhere from local high schools to the Iowa caucuses. You might pursue a career in teaching, writing or editing. You may pursue other advanced degree programs in literature, law, theology and library science. Other options include publishing, marketing, advertising and communications.

Have you finished two years of study in an English degree program at the bachelor’s level or at a community college? An accelerated English B.A. and M.A. is available. Please visit this program overview for details.