B.A. Program in English

Visit the University Registrar website and click on "Student Records."

Download and fill out the form needed. Then, make an appointment and take your form to the appropriate professor listed on the advising page.

Note: Forms are updated frequently, so make sure to download forms directly from the registrar's webpage and not from a general web search.

The Bachelor of Arts degree in English offers multiple paths. In all three options, students take core courses in literature, textual analysis, and writing, as they learn to engage a wide range of authors, periods, and genres of literature deeply and skillfully.

B.A. English, Literature option — Extended study of literature with specialized coursework and scholarly research in literature and/or rhetoric and writing studies.

B.A. English, Creative Writing option — Extended study in the art of literary writing in the genres of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, as well as literary publishing.

B.A. English Studies — Extended exploration of educational contexts for teaching English, including issues in literacy, society, and communication. (Formerly known as English Education.)

Degree requirements are determined by your catalog year.  That means you may have different requirements than other English majors. This is why it is especially important to meet with an adviser early to make sure that you understand what courses (and in which order) you need to take.

Start with your catalog year. Catalog years are determined in one of three ways:

• the academic year (AY) you began classes on the Fresno State campus;

• the AY you began classes at one of our area community colleges (Fresno City or Clovis, for instance);

• or, the AY you graduate.

Most students have the catalog year for when they began classes as the Fresno State campus. You may change your catalog year, but you then must meet all of the requirements for that catalog year.

Note: If your catalog year is between AY 2003-04 and AY 2018-19, you will have one set of requirements, and if your catalog is AY 2019-20 or later, you will have a different set of requirements.

If you aren’t sure what your catalog year is, it will be identified at the top of your Degree Progress Report, which you can access through the My Fresno State portal.

For more, you can visit the Academic Regulations webpage of the University Catalog website, and click on "Choice of Catalog."

Visit the University Catalog website. In the left index, click on "Courses" and then in the Course Filter box search for ENGL under prefix.

Visit the English Department's Students page for a list of current topics courses being offered.

Note: Every year faculty design our courses in response to changes in the field and student interests. Recent topics include Literature of the Central Valley, Magical Realism, Victorian Children's Literature, Teaching the Graphic Novel, Arab American Literature, and more.

Visit the English Department's advising info page for guidelines and contact information.

What can’t you do?

With honed communication skills and an eye for analysis, English graduates gain an edge in many fields. They become counselors, teachers, lawyers, technical writers, editors, filmmakers, business owners, policy analysts, and even doctors.