4+1 English BA plus MA Program

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The University offers a 4+1 option to complete a Bachelor of Arts (BA) with a major in English and a Master of Arts (MA), with a concentration in English in five years as a full-time student.

This 4+1 program offers a rich engagement with the complexity of human experience informed by gender, sexuality, class, race, religion and ethnicity which aligns with the University’s institutional mission to promote diversity and global literacy. Students in the program have the opportunity to develop and refine their writing and communication skills, think critically and creatively, and use emerging information technologies in the pursuit of advanced research. Graduate level courses are taught by an engaged community of teacher-scholars committed to working closely with students to broaden their knowledge of British, American and world literatures, while affording them the opportunity for specialized, independent research, culminating in a capstone thesis. Studying literary language deepens understanding of knowledge production across the disciplines as well as an aesthetic appreciation for the power of literary forms. 

Admission into this program for current Framingham State University students majoring in English:

  • Junior status with an overall GPA of 2.70 (application to the master's program should be submitted at the end of the sophomore year)
  • Completion of ENGL 204 Literary Study (or its equivalent) and three literature courses, with a GPA of 3.00 or higher
  • A 500-800 word statement of purpose
  • Three (3) letters of recommendation—at least two (2) of which must be from English department faculty members
  • An undergraduate literature essay submitted as a writing sample
  • 4+1 Program Specific Application

For the undergraduate degree:
Completion of all undergraduate English major course requirements, including distribution requirements (see undergraduate major requirements for English) as well as the General Education requirements.

Two graduate-level courses must be taken during the student’s undergraduate senior year. These two courses will count toward both the student’s B.A. and M.A. requirements. Students may take one young adult or children’s literature course, one film studies course, one creative writing, linguistics, or writing pedagogy course for a total of two electives.

For the graduate degree:
Successful completion of nine (9) graduate-level English Department courses, which includes ENGL 901  Introduction to Graduate Study in English and ENGL 980 Master’s Thesis in English.

For ENGL 980 Master’s Thesis in English, the focus should be on an area of advanced literary research. Topics will be approved by the student’s thesis advisor, the Graduate Program Coordinator, and the Chair of the English Department.
 

Graduate Thesis Defense Exam—each student is required to pass an oral defense of the their master's thesis for a panel of faculty members including the thesis advisor, the Chair of the English Department, and one other member of the faculty chosen by the student or the Graduate Program Coordinator.

 


 

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