UNI’s Graduate Major in English

Graduate Major in English

The M.A. Major in English is available on the thesis and non-thesis options, and degree applicants choose one of three emphases (see below). The thesis option requires a minimum of 30-36 semester hours, depending on the emphasis chosen; the non-thesis option requires a minimum of 30-33 semester hours, depending on the emphasis chosen. A minimum of fifteen (15) hours of 200-level course work is required for each option.

The Graduate Record Examination (General Test) is not required for admission to the program.

The three emphases are the following:

Literature Emphasis, minimum 30 semester hours — available on both thesis and non-thesis options;

Creative Writing Emphasis, minimum 36 semester hours — available on thesis option only; and

Teaching English in Secondary Schools-Middle/Junior High and Senior High(TESS), minimum 33 semester hours — available on non-thesis option only.

Graduate students are required to prepare a Program of Study which is subject to the approval of a faculty committee. The departmental committee may require an applicant to complete course work in addition to the minimum hours specified for the selected option and emphasis. Directions for preparing a Program of Study are available from the English Graduate Coordinator.

Successful completion of a final written and oral comprehensive examination is required for both the thesis and non-thesis options. In addition, students pursuing the non-thesis option are required to submit a Graduate Student Portfolio and complete an approved research paper. Contact the English Graduate Office for details.

Native speakers of English must demonstrate proficiency in another language by earning at least a "C" grade in a second-semester, college-level course or by passing a specially designed examination. Course work taken to satisfy this foreign language requirement does not count toward the number of hours required for completion of the degree major.

For full admission, non-native English speakers must have achieved a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of 600, or the equivalent, in order to demonstrate their proficiency in English. A student may be required to take additional English language improvement courses at the discretion of the English Graduate Faculty. Work taken to satisfy the language proficiency requirement does not count toward the minimum of 30 to 36 semester hours required to complete the selected emphasis.