Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Read deeply, write well, and think clearly — a degree built on great literature and the power of language.
Literature Across Eras
British and American literature, plus criticism
Choose Your Authors
Options including C.S. Lewis and Shakespeare
Writing You Can Use
Creative, professional, and digital writing
An English degree builds the skills employers and graduate programs prize most: reading closely, writing clearly, and thinking critically. ACU’s English degree grounds you in the great works of British and American literature, then lets you shape the rest around your interests — cultural themes, literary genres, major authors, and writing studies.
You’ll study literature from across the centuries, learn the tools of literary criticism, and develop your own writing through options in creative, professional, and digital writing. Distinctive author courses — including C.S. Lewis and Shakespeare — let you go deep with the writers who shaped the tradition. A senior capstone brings your work together.
Throughout, a Biblical Worldview frames literature as a place where the biggest human questions get asked — about good and evil, meaning, suffering, and hope. You’ll graduate a sharp reader, a strong writer, and a clear thinker, ready for teaching, writing, graduate study, law, ministry, and more.
Read Literature Across Eras
Study British and American literature from its foundations to the modern day.
Think Critically About Texts
Learn the tools of literary criticism and close reading.
Write With Skill
Develop your writing through creative, professional, or digital writing studies.
Go Deep With Major Authors
Study influential writers in focused courses, including C.S. Lewis and Shakespeare.
Explore Diverse Voices
Engage world, multicultural, and women's literature.
Bring It Together
Synthesize your study in a senior English Capstone.
Great literature wrestles with the deepest human questions — and a Biblical Worldview gives you a framework for reading it honestly and well.
Truth and Beauty in Story
Literature takes good, evil, suffering, and hope seriously. A Biblical Worldview engages those themes without flattening the texts — letting great books raise hard questions and sit in their full weight.
Equips you to read and teach literature's deepest themes with honesty.
The Power of Words
Scripture opens with God speaking the world into being and calls Christ the Word. Studying and crafting language well honors the weight words actually carry.
Frames your writing as stewardship of a powerful gift.
Empathy Through Reading
Stepping into another's story builds compassion — and seeing every author and character as an image-bearer deepens that work. Reading becomes practice in understanding people unlike ourselves.
Grounds your study of literature in empathy and human dignity.
English is famously versatile — its core skills of reading, writing, and reasoning travel into nearly any field.
Writing, Editing & Publishing
Work as a writer, editor, content creator, or in publishing.
Teaching
Teach English and literature (K-12 teaching requires a certification pathway).
Communications & Marketing
Bring strong writing into communications, marketing, and content roles.
Law & Graduate Study
Use the reading and reasoning foundation as strong preparation for law school or graduate study.
Ministry & Nonprofit Work
Apply writing and communication skills in churches and nonprofits.
Library, Research & Archives
Pursue roles in libraries, research, and information work.
ACU's English degree pairs a strong literary foundation with the freedom to shape the major around your interests.
A Real Literary Foundation
British and American literature plus literary criticism give you genuine depth, not just a survey.
Shape It to Your Interests
Choose-your-own bands in cultural themes, genres, major authors, and writing studies.
Distinctive Author Courses
Go deep with writers like C.S. Lewis and Shakespeare.
Writing That Travels
Creative, professional, and digital writing options build skills any career rewards.
Big Questions Welcome
Read literature framed by a Biblical Worldview that takes its deepest themes seriously.
Getting started in English at ACU takes just a few steps. Here’s the path.
Apply to ACU
Submit your application for admission to Arizona Christian University.
Start Your ApplicationMeet With an Advisor
Map your degree plan and talk through your interests in literature and writing.
Start With Introduction to Literature
Begin with the foundational literature courses the major builds on.
Shape Your Electives
Choose your cultural themes, genre, major author, and writing courses around where you're headed.
The English degree builds you into a sharp reader, a strong writer, and a clear thinker — ready for whatever comes next. Connect with our team or apply today.