English Degree Options

English Associate in Arts for Transfer Degree

The English Associate in Arts for Transfer degree is designed for students planning to transfer to a California State University (CSU) with a major in English.

English Associate in Arts Degree

The English AA degree offers courses that sharpen your skills in close reading, critical thinking, and clear communication while sparking creativity to solve real-world problems. English prepares you for a fulfilling career in law, teaching, writing, journalism, advertising, broadcasting, screenwriting, business, government, and more.

Note, if you are planning on transferring to a California State University (CSU) or University of California (UC) are strongly encouraged to investigate the AA-T in English program.

Job Titles and Career Information

Studying English can lead to a variety of different jobs or careers. Click on a job title to find out career information such as average salaries, employment rates and more!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I study literature?

Literature examines the historical and contemporary record of human lives; it is essentially a study of what it means to be human. In reading a diverse literature, students experience both the poverty and the richness of the human condition through the imaginations of writers who are as various as the landscapes they write about. For English majors, literature is the primary vehicle through which their critical thinking and writing skills are formed. Responding to literature both orally and in writing facilitates students' critical thinking skills.

How will literature classes help me with my other classes?

Reading, writing, and thinking about literature are skills readily transferable to business, journalism, or law. Courses in the English major provide students with the instruction needed to expand their knowledge and develop and refine their reading, writing, and thinking skills. The ability to read well, write effectively, and think clearly is essential to the quality of life in the private sphere as well as to success in the vocational and professional fields

Why should I become an English major?

Courses within the English major promote multi-cultural awareness as well as empathy for fellow human beings. Both awareness and empathy are necessary for full participation in the human community. Moreover, skills in the English major are practical and job-related. Critical reading, writing, and thinking are fundamental skills that will enable students to navigate an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world. These skills serve as a foundation for both human interaction and success in a variety of career fields including writing, teaching, law, business, journalism, broadcasting, television, advertising, medicine, social work, and government. Distinguished English majors include Toni Morrison (Nobel Laureate in literature); Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (NBA Hall of Fame, author, and education ambassador); Judy McGrath (MTV CEO); Andrea Jung (Avon CEO); Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court Justice); Vin Deisel (movie actor); Diane Sawyer (TV journalist); Carol Browner (Director of the Environmental Protection Agency; Sting (songwriter); Steven Spielberg, (filmmaker); Kathryn Fuller (World Wildlife Fund CEO); Al Davis (NFL Hall of Fame, owner of Oakland Raiders); and Harold Varmus (Nobel Laureate in medicine).