BestOnlineCollege.org is an advertising-supported website. Many of the school and program listings that appear on this site are from partners who compensate us, and this compensation may affect how, where, and in what order listings appear (such as featured placements). This compensation does not influence our editorial content, evaluations, or rankings, which are determined independently using publicly available data. We do not review or feature every school or program available in the marketplace. Our goal is to provide accurate, unbiased information so you can make informed decisions. Read our full Advertiser Disclosure.
Best Online English Degrees (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Key takeaway: An English degree is the study of literature, language, and writing, taught by reading closely and arguing in writing about what you read. Most online programs are a BA or an MA, and most let you concentrate: literature, rhetoric and composition, linguistics, teaching English to speakers of other languages, or a writing track. The degree is not vocational and it does not license anything, so its value comes from the reading, analysis, and prose it forces you to produce, plus whatever second skill you deliberately attach to it. There is no programmatic accreditor for English, which makes institutional accreditation the check that matters. In IPEDS 2024, 1,161 institutions reported bachelor’s-or-higher completions in English language and literature, and 982 of those reported offering distance-education programs (IPEDS 2024).
English is one of the oldest and most portable majors in American higher education, and it is also one of the most misunderstood. It is not a teaching degree, though many secondary English teachers hold one. It is not a creative writing degree, though creative writing usually lives inside it. What it trains is the ability to read a difficult text accurately, build an argument about it, and write that argument so a demanding reader accepts it. Accredited online programs award the same degree titles as campus programs; browse the best accredited online colleges to compare schools that offer them. To find programs near you, see English programs by state.
Schools Offering English Programs
These accredited schools offer online programs. Request information to compare programs, costs, and formats.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
English graduates spread across writing, editing, teaching, communications, marketing research, and library work. No single occupation belongs to the major, which is both the honest complaint about it and the reason its graduates are found in so many places. Median annual wages below come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
Median annual wage for the highest-paying English careers. Source: BLS OEWS. Chart: Best Online College.View the data behind this chart
Highest-paying English careers. Source: BLS OEWS (May 2025 release)
Occupation
Median annual wage
Technical Writers
$90,390
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
$78,760
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$78,760
Editors
$77,920
Writers and Authors
$76,910
Public Relations Specialists
$74,750
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$72,040
Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
$68,270
</> Embed or cite this chart
Copy this code to embed the chart (a link back to this page is included):
Projected job growth (2024-2034) for English careers. Source: BLS Employment Projections. Chart: Best Online College.View the data behind this chart
Fastest-growing English careers. Source: BLS Employment Projections (2024-2034)
Occupation
Projected job growth (2024-2034)
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
6.7%
Public Relations Specialists
4.8%
Writers and Authors
3.6%
Librarians and Media Collections Specialists
1.7%
Technical Writers
0.9%
Editors
0.6%
English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
0.0%
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
-1.6%
</> Embed or cite this chart
Copy this code to embed the chart (a link back to this page is included):
Writers and AuthorsSOC 27-3043
$76,910Median annual pay
Median hourly$36.98
Mean annual$86,090
Employment (US)47,940
Pay range (25-75%)$58,230 - $101,950
EditorsSOC 27-3041
$77,920Median annual pay
Median hourly$37.46
Mean annual$90,060
Employment (US)91,690
Pay range (25-75%)$57,300 - $106,100
Technical WritersSOC 27-3042
$90,390Median annual pay
Median hourly$43.46
Mean annual$96,970
Employment (US)45,500
Pay range (25-75%)$70,880 - $115,510
English Language and Literature Teachers, PostsecondarySOC 25-1123
$78,760Median annual pay
Mean annual$89,580
Employment (US)57,720
Pay range (25-75%)$60,900 - $103,130
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical EducationSOC 25-2031
$72,040Median annual pay
Mean annual$76,320
Employment (US)1,065,210
Pay range (25-75%)$59,980 - $92,570
Public Relations SpecialistsSOC 27-3031
$74,750Median annual pay
Median hourly$35.94
Mean annual$84,120
Employment (US)283,380
Pay range (25-75%)$56,260 - $100,370
Market Research Analysts and Marketing SpecialistsSOC 13-1161
$78,760Median annual pay
Median hourly$37.87
Mean annual$89,490
Employment (US)899,580
Pay range (25-75%)$58,350 - $108,310
Librarians and Media Collections SpecialistsSOC 25-4022
$68,270Median annual pay
Median hourly$32.82
Mean annual$72,840
Employment (US)133,790
Pay range (25-75%)$56,310 - $84,480
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Read the pay and the growth together, because they point in different directions here. Technical writers had the highest median annual wage of the associated occupations at $90,390 with a range from $57,440 at the 10th percentile to $145,270 at the 90th (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), but the occupation is small and projected to grow 0.9 percent from 2024 to 2034, with 4,500 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Editors had a median annual wage of $77,920 with a range from $41,250 at the 10th percentile to $153,700 at the 90th (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), and 0.6 percent projected growth with 9,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Writers and authors had a median annual wage of $76,910 with a range from $44,310 at the 10th percentile to $139,870 at the 90th (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), with 3.6 percent projected growth and 13,400 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034).
The larger doors are elsewhere. Market research analysts and marketing specialists had a median annual wage of $78,760 with a range from $43,390 at the 10th percentile to $155,480 at the 90th (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), 6.7 percent projected growth, and 87,200 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034) – the largest opening count on this list by a wide margin, though the work rewards quantitative coursework an English major does not include. Public relations specialists had a median annual wage of $74,750 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), 4.8 percent projected growth, and 27,600 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education, had a median annual wage of $72,040 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS) and 66,200 openings per year despite a projected decline of 1.6 percent from 2024 to 2034 (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034); that opening count is replacement demand in a very large occupation. English language and literature teachers, postsecondary, had a median annual wage of $78,760 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS) with 0.0 percent projected growth and 5,100 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Librarians and media collections specialists had a median annual wage of $68,270 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), 1.7 percent projected growth, and 13,500 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Individual outcomes vary by employer, geography, specialization, and experience.
Quick Answers
What is an English degree?
An English degree is the academic study of literature, language, and writing. Coursework moves through literary history, critical methods, and rhetoric, and it is assessed almost entirely by written argument. Most programs let you concentrate in literature, writing and rhetoric, linguistics, or teaching English to speakers of other languages, and many house a creative writing track inside the major.
Is an English degree the same as a creative writing degree?
No. English centers on reading and analyzing existing work; creative writing centers on producing original literary work in a workshop. Many English majors take workshops as electives or as a concentration, and some schools offer a combined “English and creative writing” title. If original fiction, poetry, or screenwriting is the point, compare the creative writing programs directly.
Can I teach with an English degree?
Not automatically. Teaching English in a public secondary school requires a state teaching license, which means an approved educator preparation program, supervised student teaching, and state exams in addition to the subject-matter degree. Some English departments run a licensure track; many do not. Confirm with the school and with your state before you assume the major is the credential. Teaching English at the college level normally requires a graduate degree.
What is the difference between English and professional writing?
English trains analysis and academic argument about texts. Professional writing trains you to write on assignment for an organization, under a house style, a review process, and a deadline you did not set. If you want documentation, proposals, editing, or content strategy as a job, an applied writing sequence attached to the English major does more for you than the major alone.
Is there a programmatic accreditor for English?
No. There is no recognized programmatic accreditor for English degrees. Verify that the institution holds accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor through the U.S. Department of Education database. If you are pursuing a teaching licensure track, the educator preparation program may separately hold CAEP accreditation and must be state-approved, which is the accreditation that affects your license.
What you’ll study
English curricula are built in three layers, and the middle one is what separates a real major from a reading list.
The first layer is literary history and coverage. Surveys of British, American, and increasingly global and postcolonial literature give you the map: periods, movements, and the texts other texts are arguing with. Most programs require a set number of courses before 1800 or before 1900, precisely because the temptation is to read only recent work.
The second layer is method. Courses in critical theory, literary criticism, and research methods teach you what counts as evidence in a reading, how to use archives and databases, and how to position a claim against the existing criticism. This layer is why the degree transfers: the habit of separating what a text says from what you want it to say is not a literary skill only.
The third layer is language and writing. Depending on the school this includes advanced composition, rhetoric, linguistics, history of the English language, editing, and the workshops that support a creative concentration. Programs oriented toward teaching English to speakers of other languages add second-language acquisition, phonology, and methods coursework.
At the bachelor’s level, expect roughly 120 credits with the English core concentrated after the first year. At the master’s level, expect a smaller set of graduate seminars, a language or methods requirement in some programs, and a thesis, portfolio, or comprehensive exam. Confirm each school’s credit total and calendar rather than assuming they match. Online delivery changes how seminar discussion happens; see how online English degrees work before you enroll.
Careers for English graduates
There is no job called “English,” which is the source of most of the anxiety about this major and most of the bad advice about it. The realistic framing is that the degree supplies a general professional credential plus a strong reading-and-writing skill, and you supply the domain.
Editorial and writing work is the most direct line. Editors and technical writers are paid to make other people’s text correct, clear, and usable, and both occupations are small with modest projected growth. Writers and authors include a large self-employed share, and self-employed income is variable.
Communications, public relations, and marketing absorb far more English graduates than publishing does, because those fields hire for the ability to write quickly and accurately for an audience. Market research analyst roles carry the largest opening count of the associated occupations but expect statistics and survey methods, so pair the major with quantitative coursework if that is the target.
Teaching splits by level. Secondary English teaching is a large occupation with heavy replacement demand and requires a state license on top of the degree. Postsecondary English teaching requires graduate work, usually a doctorate for tenure-track positions, and shows 0.0 percent projected growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Library work generally requires a master’s in library and information science; see library science. For the job-by-job walkthrough, see what you can do with an English degree.
How to choose an online English program
Accreditation – confirm recognized institutional accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education database. There is no programmatic accreditor for English, so institutional accreditation is the check that matters.
Concentration – literature, writing and rhetoric, linguistics, teaching English to speakers of other languages, and creative writing are genuinely different course loads. Read the required list, not the marketing page.
Degree level – decide between a bachelor’s and a master’s based on what the next step actually requires.
Licensure, if you want to teach – ask directly whether the program leads to a state teaching license in your state, and whether student teaching placements are arranged for online students.
Seminar quality online – ask how discussion runs, how long papers are, and how quickly instructors return written comments.
Cost – compare total program cost including fees, not the advertised per-credit rate, and review how to evaluate affordability.
English or a related field? Choose English for literature, language, and analytical writing. Choose creative writing for original literary work in a workshop, professional writing for workplace documents and editing, journalism for reporting and verification, technical communication for documentation and information design, or liberal arts if you want a broader humanities degree with English as one strand.
Next Steps
Wondering where it leads? See what you can do with an English degree for the jobs and BLS salary data behind the degree, or how to become an editor for the step-by-step path into the field’s most common editorial role. Compare programs by topic:
