Students elect to take the program with the option of writing or not writing a thesis. Because the program offers a broad-based degree, there is no concentration per se. Thirty (30) hours are required for the thesis option and 33 hours for the non-thesis option; at least 70 percent of the minimum required hours must be taken from courses for graduate students only. The following courses do not count for credit toward the degree: ENGL 5019, Supervised Experience in Teaching (required for all teaching assistants, who must register for this course when they take the practicum in teaching freshman composition during the semester of their first teaching assignment); ENGL 5029, Supervised Experience in Research (required for all research assistants); ENGL 5039, Supervised Experience in Administration (required for all administrative assistants). All students earning the Master of Arts in English must take the following core course:

• ENGL 5950 - Methods of Research (3 credits)

All students who choose the thesis option must take:

• ENGL 5960 - Thesis in English (Required) (3 credits)

All graduate assistants who will serve as teaching assistants must satisfactorily complete the course below during any semester before their first teaching assignment:

• ENGL 5057 - Writing: Theory and Teaching (3 credits)

Students choosing to write a thesis must complete 30 credit-hours (minimum) including ENGL 5950 and ENGL 5960. Students who choose not to write a thesis must complete 33 credit-hours (minimum), including ENGL 5950. All graduate assistants with teaching assignments must fulfill the condition for teaching assistants above. All courses not covered by the requirements and conditions herein stated may be chosen at the student’s discretion with the guidance and advice of the department graduate coordinator.To complete their degree work, all students must pass a comprehensive written exam covering material from their coursework, as well as texts from a reading list that will be made available to all students upon entry into the program. Students will be required to pass all sections to pass the exam. If a student fails only one question on the exam, however, the student can retake that section within 7-10 days in an oral exam format. This supplementary one-hour oral re-examination will be given by the professor who wrote the exam question and by another professor under the direction of the graduate coordinator. Students who do not pass the oral re-examination can take the entire exam one more time, but only when it is offered the following semester. Failure to pass the second examination will result in removal from the program.