BA / MA Program in English
The GW English Department offers a five-year dual degree BA/MA program. Students complete their Bachelor of Arts at the end of four years of undergraduate study, and their Masters after one additional year. By undertaking graduate coursework during senior year, students complete the MA one year faster than they otherwise could.
The first step to entering the BA/MA program is to apply into the Honors Program in English. After admission to departmental honors (spring of junior year), all students who desire may also enter the dual degree program. Students electing the five-year BA/MA submit a simple program application form, which they can obtain from the Director of Undergraduate Studies (Marshall Alcorn). Students need not take the GRE.
The MA portion of the program requires ten graduate courses and a qualifying assessment (to be completed during the last semester of study). Two of these graduate seminars are taken during the senior year, and count towards both the BA and MA. In their fifth year students complete their final eight seminars. One or more may be taken during the summer.
We hope that this program will appeal to highly motivated students who will enjoy the chance to undertake graduate study while still an undergraduate, and who will appreciate the chance to obtain an important graduate credential more swiftly than they otherwise could.
