M.A. Degree in English

The English, Speech, and Foreign Languages Department at Texas Woman's University offers a Masters of Arts Degree in English. Pursuit of an MA in English prepares students for careers as teachers, writers, editors, and other careers; it prepares students for further graduate studies in English and other fields; finally, it offers an opportunity for continuing education for teachers and others who want to pursue further studies. Below are the guidelines and requirements for completion of an MA in English.  You can download our new M.A. brochure as a pdf.

Guidelines and Requirements
  
>> A master's student must maintain a 3.0 GPA
>> Up to 6 semester transfer hours (with a 'B' or better) may be applied to the MA in English

There are three options at this time for completion of an MA in English at TWU:

Option I: Thesis

• 24 hours of coursework (minor option: 6 hours may contribute to a chosen minor)
• 6 hours for thesis
• 2-hour oral exam

Option II: Professional Paper

• 33 hours of coursework (minor option: 6-9 hours may contribute to a chosen minor)
• 3 hours for professional paper
• 3 hour written comprehensive examination

Option III: Course Work

• 36 hours of coursework (minor option: 6-9 hours may contribute to a chosen minor)
• 3-hour written comprehensive examination

Additional Requirements

ENG 5083, Bibliography and Research Methods

Research Tools
M.A. candidates can choose two of the following options (may choose the same option twice).

• 6 credit hours of graduate or 12 hours of undergraduate courses in the same foreign language or equivalency examination.*
• 6 credit hours of graduate-level American Sign Language or equivalency examination.
• 6 credit hours of graduate-level computer science
• 6 credit hours of graduate-level library science**
• 6 hours of graduate-level English courses (see list below)

      *See department for information on equivalency examination
      **Library Science classes include only those concerning collections, information retrieval, and other research courses.

English courses include:

ENG 5083 Bibliography and Research Methods*
ENG 5713 Old and Middle English Language and Literature
ENG 5283 Studies in Literary Criticism
ENG 5343 Rhetoric and Composition: Theory and Practice*
ENG 5353 Rhetoric and Composition: Theory and Pedagogy of Electronic Texts*
ENG 5373 Professional and Academic Communication
ENG 6083 Research Methods in Rhetoric and Composition
ENG 6313 Studies in Rhetorical Criticism and Discourse Analysis*

Courses above with asterisks may be repeated when the specific topic of investigation varies.

Students must receive a "B" or better in all research tools.

English courses taken as research tools will count towards the 90 hours of the degree; however, other courses (foreign language, computer science, and library science) will not count towards the 90 hours of the degree major.  This information can also be found in the current Graduate Catalog.

International Student Admission Requirement
Effective with admissions for the Fall 2011 semester, provisional admission based upon the need for English proficiency will no longer be allowed.  Rather, all students for whom an English proficiency test is required must meet the following minimum criteria:

• TOEFL (paper-based):  Score of 550 or higher
  TOEFL (computer-based):  Score of 213 or higher
  TOEFL iBT:  Score of 79 or higher
  MELAB:  Score of 80 or higher
  IELTS:  Score of 6.5 or higher
  GRE:  Verbal score of 500 or higher