Master of Arts in English

The Master of Arts in English program at Worcester State University helps you expand your literary knowledge and further develop your critical research and writing skills.

With courses available in the late afternoons and evenings as well as online, our program offers working students like you a flexible schedule. Our rolling admissions process allows you to start your studies at a time that's right for you. With the possibility of transferring up to 12 credits of graduate work, the program is also an exceptional value.

Courses in this program cover a range of topics, from literature and literary theory to writing theory and teaching to research methods. In fact, research is an integral component of the program, and you are encouraged to turn your seminar papers into conference papers and articles. In recent years, students have presented their work at a variety of conferences. You may also have the opportunity to pursue a graduate assistantship in Worcester State's Writing Center and at our online scholarly journal, Currents in Teaching and Learning, or our online news and literary magazine, The New Worcester Spy. After completion of your coursework, you either take 2 area exams or research and write a thesis, a book-length study of some area of literature, literary theory, or rhetoric.

While many graduates of this program have continued their studies beyond the master's level, others have found great success as English teachers in public schools across the state. In fact, this program is well-suited for English teachers who need a master's degree to complete the final step in obtaining professional educator licensure in Massachusetts.

Applicants for admission to graduate studies must have completed a baccalaureate degree program at a regionally accredited institution.

In addition to the general admission requirements, applicants to the Master of Arts in English must have either earned an undergraduate degree in English or completed at least 18 semester credit hours of English courses, not counting first-year English composition classes or English for English Language Learners, at an accredited institution of higher education.

Applicants without undergraduate training in the English discipline are strongly advised to take survey courses in American and English literature and a course in undergraduate literary theory as part of the required 18 undergraduate credits.

Applicants from countries outside of the United States in which English is not the language of instruction, must also submit a score of 61 or above on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a score of 6 or above on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

The application deadline for Fall semester (September start): June 15; Spring semester (January start): November 1.