A bachelor’s in English is almost always a BA, and it is one of the most standardized majors in American higher education: a coverage sequence in literary history, a methods or criticism course, a set of electives, and a senior seminar or capstone paper. What varies between schools is the concentration structure – whether you can specialize in literature, writing and rhetoric, linguistics, teaching English to speakers of other languages, or creative writing, and how many credits that specialization actually claims.
This page explains the degree titles you will encounter, what the coursework requires week to week, what the major does and does not qualify you for, and how to compare programs without relying on catalog language.
Quick answers
Can I get a bachelor’s degree in English online?
Yes. The BA in English is widely offered online, including at public universities that award the same degree to online and campus students. 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).
What concentrations are available in an English major?
Common tracks are literature, writing and rhetoric, creative writing, linguistics, and teaching English to speakers of other languages. Some schools offer only a general English major with electives. The concentration changes the required course list, so compare requirements rather than the track name.
How many credits is a bachelor’s in English?
Approximately 120 semester hours, typically four years full-time, with the English core concentrated after the general education sequence. The major itself usually claims 36 to 45 of those credits, which leaves substantial room for a minor or a second field.
Does an English degree let me teach?
Not by itself. Public school teaching requires a state license, which means completing a state-approved educator preparation program with supervised student teaching and passing state subject and pedagogy exams. Some universities offer an English major with a secondary licensure track; many do not, and online licensure tracks add a placement problem. Ask admissions directly, and check your state’s licensing board.
Is English or creative writing the better major?
They train different things. English is analysis of existing literature and argumentative writing; creative writing is production of original work under critique. English is the broader credential and usually the easier one to complete online; creative writing gives you more workshop credits and a manuscript. Many students take the English major with a creative writing concentration to get both.
What should I pair with an English major?
Something that names an industry. Coursework in marketing, communications, professional writing, data or statistics, or a second language turns “can write and analyze” into a specific hiring story. The major is deliberately general; the pairing is what makes it legible to employers.
At a Glance
- Common degree titles: BA in English, BA in English Language and Literature, BA in English with a concentration in literature, writing, linguistics, or teaching English to speakers of other languages
- Typical duration: 4 years full-time
- Credits: Approximately 120 semester hours, with roughly 36 to 45 in the major
- Core skills: Close reading, research, literary and rhetorical analysis, sustained argumentative writing
- Accreditation: No programmatic accreditor for English; verify institutional accreditation
For a full map of this program area, start here: English Program Guide
Schools to compare
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.
Graduation rate
97%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$124,080
Avg net price
$13,807/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 100
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Acceptance rate
11%
Graduation rate
93%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$92,446
Avg net price
$13,481/yr
TuitionIn‑state$16,347
Out‑of‑state$50,547
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 127
Source:Accreditor: Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
89%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$71,588
Avg net price
$6,541/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 172
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
98%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$110,066
Avg net price
$6,128/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 98%
- Programs offered: 47
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Acceptance rate
7%
Graduation rate
95%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$82,735
Avg net price
$14,398/yr
TuitionIn‑state$67,832
Out‑of‑state$67,832
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 40
Source:Accreditor: New England Commission on Higher Education · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
96%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$88,665
Avg net price
$17,716/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 38
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 97%
- Programs offered: 28
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
96%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$143,372
Avg net price
$20,111/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 99%
- Programs offered: 53
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
The main undergraduate pathways
General English major
The default structure: surveys of British and American literature, a course in critical methods, a distribution requirement across periods (often including a pre-1800 or pre-1900 requirement), and electives you choose. This is the most flexible route and the one that pairs most easily with a minor in another field. The risk is drift – an elective list with no shape produces a transcript that reads as a set of books rather than a competence.
English with a writing and rhetoric concentration
Substitutes some literature electives for advanced composition, rhetorical theory, editing, and sometimes document design. This is the version of the major that maps most directly onto paid workplace writing, and it overlaps with professional writing programs without going as far into applied genres. If editing is the target, this is the track to take.
English with a creative writing concentration
Pairs the English core with a block of workshops in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, or screenwriting. It is the common compromise for students who want literary study and writing practice in one degree. The tradeoff versus a standalone creative writing major is fewer workshop credits, which usually means a thinner portfolio at graduation.
English with linguistics or a track in teaching English to speakers of other languages
Adds second-language acquisition, phonetics and phonology, syntax, and language teaching methods. Some schools award a certificate alongside the degree. This track is aimed at language instruction, including adult and international settings, and it is the one place in the major where a specific credential is often attached to the coursework. Confirm what the certificate is recognized for before you count on it.
English with a secondary teaching licensure track
Combines the subject major with education coursework and supervised student teaching. Licensure is issued by states, not by universities, so the question is not whether the program is good but whether it is approved in the state where you intend to teach and whether it can place an online student in a classroom near you. See the education program guide for how licensure programs are structured.
Typical coursework in a bachelor’s program
| Course Topic |
What You Learn |
| British Literature Surveys |
Periods, movements, and the long conversation from medieval writing forward |
| American Literature Surveys |
The national canon and the arguments about what belongs in it |
| Critical Theory and Methods |
What counts as evidence in a reading; how schools of criticism differ |
| Shakespeare or a Major Author |
Sustained work on one body of writing, usually with a research paper |
| Advanced Composition and Rhetoric |
Argument construction, audience, style, and revision at the paragraph level |
| Linguistics or History of the English Language |
How the language is structured and how it changed |
| World, Postcolonial, or Multiethnic Literature |
Texts outside the British and American core, and the frameworks that read them |
| Senior Seminar or Capstone |
A long researched essay, defended against the existing criticism |
Skills you may build
- Reading a difficult text accurately, including what it does not say
- Building an argument that survives someone else attacking its evidence
- Writing long-form prose to a deadline and revising it after criticism
- Locating and evaluating scholarly sources, and citing them correctly
- Editing other people’s writing for structure, clarity, and correctness
- Explaining complex material to readers who do not share your background
Prerequisites and course sequencing
The English core usually sits behind first-year composition, and upper-division seminars often run on a rotation rather than every term. Before you enroll, confirm:
- Whether the program has a historical distribution requirement, and which terms those courses run online
- How often the concentration courses you want are offered
- Whether a foreign language requirement applies to the BA, and how it can be satisfied online
- Whether the capstone requires a prerequisite methods course you must schedule early
- Whether licensure coursework, if you want it, is available to online students in your state
If you are moving faster than a standard four-year plan, compare accelerated English programs. Reading load compresses badly: a five-week term still contains the same novels.
Transfer credits and degree planning
Transfer credit can shorten a bachelor’s substantially, particularly for general education, composition, and introductory literature surveys. Rules vary by institution, so confirm:
- The maximum number of transfer credits accepted
- The minimum grade required for a course to transfer
- Whether credits apply to the major core or only to general electives – composition and surveys usually transfer, upper-division seminars often do not
- Residency requirements, meaning a minimum number of credits completed at the institution
- Whether credit by exam, such as CLEP or DSST, satisfies composition or literature requirements
See Affordable Online English Degrees for more on managing total program cost.
Accreditation and program quality checks
There is no programmatic accreditor for English degrees or concentrations. Verify that the institution holds accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor through the U.S. Department of Education database.
The one place programmatic accreditation matters in this field is teaching licensure. Educator preparation programs must be state-approved, and many hold CAEP accreditation. That approval, not the English department’s reputation, is what your license depends on.
Making the major legible to employers
Because no occupation is named “English,” the transcript has to do work the major title does not. Practical habits:
- Keep a portfolio of your best writing, including at least one long researched paper and one short piece written for a non-academic reader
- Take at least one course that produces a workplace artifact – an edited document, a report, a style-guide exercise
- Add a minor or a certificate that names an industry rather than a mood
- Get editing experience where you can find it: a student publication, a departmental journal, a volunteer newsletter
- If quantitative work interests you, take statistics; market research analyst roles have the largest opening count among the occupations English graduates enter, and they screen for it
Bachelor’s vs a master’s in English
A bachelor’s is the general four-year credential plus the reading and writing training. It is sufficient for most of the writing, editing, communications, and marketing roles English graduates enter. An online master’s in English is for a deeper specialization, for community college teaching, as preparation for doctoral study, or as a credential some school districts recognize on a salary schedule. It is not a general employability upgrade, and postsecondary English teaching at the tenure track normally requires a doctorate.
Compare degree options:
Data verified: September 5, 2026.
Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
← Back to Best Online English Degrees (2026)
