Basic Requirements:

  • Thirty-three hours of coursework (11 courses). At least one-third of the hours taken toward the degree should be at the 600 level.

  • All work toward the degree must be completed within 10 years of the first course taken. Courses taken between 6 and 10 years prior to the program completion date must be re-validated by departmental exams administered by the specific faculty member who has responsibility for that course; any graduate course more than 10 years old may not be counted.

  • Up to nine hours of graduate work in English may be transferred from other institutions with the approval of the Director of English Graduate Studies. At least nine hours in English courses numbered 600 or above must be completed at UAH (exclusive of thesis hours).

  • A full-time student must take a minimum of nine hours per semester. A student is permitted to take up to 13 semester hours per term, but should first consult with the Director of English Graduate Studies about doing so.

  • A student must maintain a 3.000 GPA in all courses taken at the graduate level. A student whose cumulative GPA falls below 3.000 will be placed on Academic Probation Status.

Capstone Requirements:

The Capstone project should be completed in a student's final semester of the M.A. program. The Capstone project typically consists of the expansion of a paper or major project originally completed in an M.A. course. The project is typically framed toward a professional goal (academic conference presentation or academic journal publication, work application portfolio, creative writing publication, etc.). A graduate student will choose a Capstone director and develop goals and a completion plan for the project. Capstone project department deadlines: 

  1. Selection of supervisor: December 1 (for Spring graduation); May 1 (for Fall graduation)

  2. Submission of Non-Thesis Capstone Proposal: January 20 (for Spring graduation); August 20 (for Fall graduation). The proposal will be subject to revision at this point, but should be finalized as an acceptable plan NO LATER THAN two weeks after initial submission (to allow time for the work to be completed).

  3. Submission of completed Non-Thesis Capstone Project: March 15 (for Spring graduation); October 20 (for Fall graduation)

The Capstone project concludes with an interview about the project’s process by the chair of the Capstone and a second, appointed department faculty member. See the Graduate School information page for final Capstone (non-thesis) project deadlines. For more information contact the Director of English Graduate Studies. Please be advised that since most faculty members are on nine-month contracts and thus not employed by the university during the summer, it is usually not possible to schedule thesis defenses between mid-May and mid-August.