Earn a BA and MA in Five Years

The +1 BA/MA in English allows you to graduate with both an undergraduate and graduate degree in just five years. The program is ideal for high-achieving English majors who excel during the first three years and who want the added credential of a master’s degree. Having an English master’s degree is helpful for publishing, teaching and writing positions. The +1 program also provides you a competitive edge when applying to PhD programs. If you’re interested in the +1 accelerated BA/MA degree program, apply during your junior year.

In addition to fulfilling all the requirements for the BA in English by the end of your senior year, you must complete all requirements for the MA in English by the end of your fifth year. The complete list of requirements are listed below.

• Nine English graduate courses (27 credits): One of which must be at the advanced level (8000-9000)
• Three graduate courses in the fourth or senior year: These three graduate courses will substitute for three required courses for the undergraduate major. We recommend students take Eng 9001: Introduction to Graduate Studies or enroll in an alternate Eng 5000-7000 level course. In the spring semester, students take two courses that should also be at the 5000-7000 level. The three graduate courses taken senior year substitute for one of the required undergraduate 2000 level courses and two of the required 3000 level courses.
• Six graduate English courses in their fifth or MA year
• English 9996: Masters Essay (3 credits): Student work under the guidance of a faculty mentor on the Masters Qualifying Essay and submit the Qualifying Essay by the spring semester deadline for acceptance.
• Masters Qualifying Essay: The Qualifying Essay is typically a substantial revision of a paper submitted for a course and is written in the final semester under the guidance of a faculty mentor who also approves the essay for submission. The Qualifying Essay demonstrates the students’ ability to write perceptively, lucidly and at length (4,000-6,000 words) on a literary subject and is due in the final semester by a date specified in the Graduate English Calendar.
• Language Requirement: Students are required to demonstrate reading knowledge of one foreign language by either passing a translation exam or completing six credits of language courses beyond the intermediate language level in either the fourth or fifth year of the program.

Application Requirements

Please visit the Accelerated Degree Admissions page to learn more about program requirements, dates and deadlines and instructions on how to apply.