English Major
At A Glance
Program Type
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Accreditation
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
Opportunities
Option to earn a TESOL certificate
Outcomes
Our students have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller List and been published in Marvel Comics, National Geographic Traveler and The New Yorker.
Whether you aspire to be a writer or a journalist, a teacher or a travel writer, the ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox University English program can kickstart your career in any field. You’ll learn how to communicate with clarity and grace, while gaining real-world professional experience. Join a vibrant community of passionate students and talented faculty who will help you learn and grow in small, rigorous classes.
As an English major, you will be taught to read and write with attention to truthfulness, logic, rhetoric and aesthetics. In an increasingly competitive and changing marketplace, a degree in English can be the foundation for the thinking, imaginative and interpretative skills necessary for workplace success.
Pathways
The English major offers three distinct pathways – Literary Arts, Teaching and Travel, and Creative Storytelling – that allow students to customize their experience based on their career and educational goals. This not only gives you flexibility in deciding what courses to take, it equips you with the skills necessary to pursue your chosen career path upon graduation.
Literary Arts
Cultivate a mastery of the literary arts and immerse yourself in the richness of global and English literature in the literary arts pathway. This track focuses on high literary culture, such as becoming a novelist or writer; working in the publishing industry or higher education; or pursuing a master’s degree in library science.
Beyond the classroom, you'll have the opportunity to build your writing portfolio by publishing your work in The Wineskin, our student-run journal of art, prose and poetry, or working for our on-campus newspaper, The Crescent.
Studying the literary arts will impart skills in close reading, critical thinking, analytical and problem solving, empathy, and embodying the gospel – the most important story of all.
Teaching and Travel
This path will prepare you for a Master of Arts in Teaching degree, which gives you the option to teach English in public or private schools across the country – and even the world! You'll graduate with the courses required for a TESOL (Teach English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate, acknowledged by many institutions and schools as the standard for teaching abroad and in the U.S.
Many of our graduates teach abroad for a period of time after graduation. Or you can start a career in travel writing. The world is full of possibilities!
Creative Storytelling
Creative storytelling prepares you for a career in journalism and business writing. You can gain experience writing for The Crescent, our student-run newspaper, or land an internship at the local newspaper, Newsberg. We offer journalism, magazine, feature writing, and creative writing classes to hone your storytelling skills.
Creative storytelling is at the heart of countless industries, from corporate brand creation to nonprofit fundraising or even video game development. Master a skill with many applications, and leverage your understanding of language and story to create memorable experiences with meaningful impact.
Program Distinctives Why Study English at ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox?
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Each member of our faculty is a published writer who is knowledgeable about the publishing industry. They teach from practical experience, not textbook knowledge. Each specializes in different kinds of writing, from young adult fiction to poetry to journalism to academic writing.
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Beyond exploring the classics of literature, you will become a more perceptive reader and interpreter of the Bible, helping you gain a better understanding of how your faith informs your writing practice.
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Submit to or edit for The Wineskin (our literary journal), contribute to our campus newspaper The Crescent, or publish work in community media or literary outlets. In addition, several students in our Magazine and Feature Writing course are published regularly in media outlets outside the university.
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If you are an English major or minor with a 3.0 GPA or above and three semesters of college credit, you may join the ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, which qualifies you to submit your creative and scholarly writing and, if selected, to present your work at the international convention.
Courses / Curriculum What Will I Study?
Career Outlook What’s After ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox
Employment of writers and authors is between 2024 and 2034, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics – as fast as the national average for all professions. Employment for educational instruction, which includes English teachers, and library occupations is also projected to grow as fast as the national average for all occupations during that time span.
- Freelance Writer and Editor, Travel Oregon, Word Jones, Handheld Group
- Associate Professor of English, Spring Arbor University
- Author, The Necessary Grace to Fall (Flannery O’Connor Award winner)
- Director of Education, Creative Nonfiction Foundation
- Technical Editor, Apex Companies
- Librarian, Cedar Mill and Bethany Community Libraries
- Language Arts Teacher, Sherwood High School
- ESL Tutor, Immigrant and Refugee Center of Northern Colorado
- English Professor, Grand Canyon University
- Project Manager and Marketing Assistant, Soulation
- Intuitive Coach and Leadership Consultant, The Courage Practice
- Portland Monthly Magazine
- Oregon Bride Magazine
- Ellechor Publishing House
- Barclay Press
- Newberg Public Library
- Newberg Public Schools
- Yale University
- Notre Dame
- Oxford University
- Duke Divinity School
- University of St. Andrews
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Virginia
- University of Oregon
- Oregon State University
Occupations & Earning Potential
Below are some of the common career paths our English graduates pursue or are well-equipped to go on to. Keep in mind that while a bachelor's degree provides a strong foundation, certain specialized or advanced roles may require additional education or experience.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026)
Jordan Ifueko Creates Stories for a New Generation of Fantasy Fiction Readers
As a child, Jordan Ifueko breathed books. She inhaled stories like oxygen, drawing life from the pages of the British literature that crowded her Nigerian immigrant parents’ shelves. Fairy tales and fantasy novels filled her with wonder and painted her imagination in bright shades of magic.
It wasn’t long before Ifueko, brimming with verbs and plots and characters, exhaled stories of her own, crafting worlds in ink and page. She started writing Raybearer – the young adult fantasy novel that would eventually land Ifueko on the New York Times Bestseller List – when she was just 13.
Gina Ochsner
Author, winner of 2002 Flannery O’Connor Award
What I appreciated the most about the time I spent studying at ºìÐÓ¶ÌÊÓƵ Fox was the creative latitude to explore, define, craft and hone my own creative aesthetic. Under the guidance of gifted instructors I was encouraged to examine rigorously what it is I wanted to write and how best to write it.
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