The Department offers programs leading to the Master of Arts and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The M.A. degree may be completed in one academic year. In the Ph.D. Program, students move toward specialization in a particular area of English studies.
Most students hold teaching fellowships.
Exceptionally well-qualified applicants to the M.A. Program may be considered for Presidential University Graduate Fellowships. Aid is available to many students admitted to the Ph.D. Program in the form of Teaching Fellowships. Teaching Fellowships are normally held for a maximum of four years. The Department of English offers annually the Albert Gilman Shakespeare Prize of seven hundred dollars for the best essay written on Shakespeare or Elizabethan-Jacobean drama. The competition is open to all graduate students in the Department of English.