Summer 2025
Classes Start
May 3
Session b
Classes Start
Mar 2
Program Overview
What do former governor Mitt Romney, former CEO Andrea Jung, author Toni Morrison, sportscaster Howard Cosell, songwriter Paul Simon, and astronaut Sally Ride all have in common? Answer: they studied English in college. Our RCU English studies majors also have ended up in a variety of fields such as editing, journalism, development, higher education, insurance, sales, marketing, and the legal profession. Regardless of your career, The Harvard Business Review notes that studying English can help you professionally by fostering skills such as empathy and critical thinking. Through a study of literature, a degree in English provides an opportunity to experience different conflicts and perspectives across many time periods and places. And with advanced writing classes, students can enhance their communication skills. We invite you to consider studying English as a major, a concentration, or a minor.
Blackberry Winter Receives National Recognition from the National Council of Teachers of English
RCU’s creative arts journal, Blackberry Winter, overseen by Assistant Professor Melissa StPierre and Associate Professor Zac Watson, has won a national recognition for the second year in a row.
degree requirements
The BA in English program will develop your communication and critical thinking skills, preparing you for graduate school or careers in a wide variety of professions, including business, education, government service, journalism, law, library science and technical writing. Our BA in English focuses on English Literature, writing and research skills, analyzing contexts of language and understanding diverse perspectives.
- Students will be able to effectively communicate using written texts for a variety of rhetorical situations.
- Students will be able to access and evaluate sources of information; to synthesize, analyze, and integrate the arguments of sources; and to summarize, paraphrase, quote, and document sources in accordance with the conventions of scholarly research.
- Students will be able to apply a wide range of critical theories to canonical and emerging literatures.
- Students will be able to understand the historical and cultural contexts of language and literature with specific attention to human diversity.
- Students will be able to articulate their personal beliefs, values, attitudes, and abilities in English in relation to the Christian story and service in God’s world.
Total Credit Hours: 120
- General Education Core: 35 hours
- English Major: 44 hours
- Vocational Courses: 5 hours
- Survey Courses: 6 hours
- Theory: 3 hours
- Language History and Grammar: 3 hours
- Diversity Courses: 6 hours
- Upper Division Writing Courses: 6 hours
- Capstone Project: 3 hours
- 2000 or Above ENG: 12 hours
- Electives: 41 hours
- Creative Writing Club
Program Statistics
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Graduates hired within 6 months
Jobs filled by Rochester grads
Career Opportunities
Types of Jobs
- Business
- Education
- Government Service
- Journalism
- Law
- Library Science
- Technical Writing
$62,281
$164,200
$211,938
Avg. Salaries post graduation
(Courtesy of Salary.com)
Market Trends
Projected Growth (2021-2031): 4-7%
Projected Job Openings (2021-2031): 6,700
(Courtesy of O*Net Online)
student experience
Internships
Clubs
- Creative Writing Club
Activities
alumni TESTIMONIAL
I’m the development director at Meadow Brook Theatre, and I also run my own business, Walker Publicity Consulting. In 2016, I was named one of Oakland County’s Elite 40 Under 40, and in 2018 I was elected to the Rochester Community Schools’ Board of Education. RCU’s English program laid the foundation for my career. I was able to develop my creative skills while honing my technical and publicity writing skills that would lead to my career.
Faculty
School of Humanities
(248) 218-2258
melissa.stpierre@rcu.edu
School of Humanities
(248) 218-2258
melissa.stpierre@rcu.edu
Associate Professor of Humanities
School of Humanities
Campus Center 217
(248) 218-2132
zachary.watson@rcu.edu
School of Humanities
Campus Center 217
(248) 218-2132
zachary.watson@rcu.edu
