Graduate Programs in English
Our graduate programs let you work directly with leading scholars in their field. You'll learn directly from ground-breaking scholars and work side by side with other up and coming academics and writers in your cohort.
Explore the Art and Power of Literature
Our M.A. and Ph.D. in English are fully funded graduate programs in literary studies and homes for innovative, transformative scholarship. Our faculty are award-winning teachers and researchers who guide students in their intellectual and professional development as educators, researchers, and writers. Our faculty includes nationally and internationally recognized scholars who are leaders in their fields. They study American, British, and World literatures from the Medieval past to today.
Our programs combine disciplinary expertise with interdisciplinary collaboration. We bring the lessons and analytic skills of literary scholarship to cultural studies, film and media studies, Southern studies, environmental studies, book history, gender and sexuality studies, multicultural literatures, and more.
Our lively and supportive department community regularly hosts dynamic visiting speakers and includes reading groups and colloquia where faculty and graduate students explore shared interests and work-in-progress.
There’s no better place for your graduate degree in literary studies degree than our department, located in the South’s greatest literary town.
Meet the Director of Graduate Studies
Our academic graduate programs are designed to prepare you for whatever your future holds.
Jason David Solinger
Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor of English
Application Deadline: December 20, 2025
How to Apply
Start Your Application Today!
To apply to the M.A. in English or Ph.D. in English program, apply online through the University of Mississippi Graduate School application portal. All application materials must be submitted through the Graduate School application portal.
Required Application Materials
Applying as an International Student?
We welcome applications for admission from qualified students from all countries. Applicants whose first language is not English must provide an official score report from a recognized English proficiency examination as part of their application, such as the TOEFL iBT or IELTS.
Candidates must meet the minimum English language proficiency score required by the Graduate School to be eligible for admission. Additionally, to be a competitive candidate for admission to a program in English, we recommend that applicants have scores of 100 or higher on the TOEFL iBT or 7.5 or higher on the IELTS. As part of the application process, international candidates whose first language is not English who have made it to the advanced stage of the admissions process may be asked to participate in a brief (20-30 minute) video interview with members of the graduate admissions committee.
Frequently Asked Questions
We typically offer full, multi-year funding to all admitted doctoral graduate students and most admitted MA students through graduate assistantships. Our graduate assistantship funding includes tuition coverage, subsidized health insurance, and a stipend for living. Most graduate assistants serve as teaching assistants in UM’s general-education literature survey classes. Additional sources of funding including dissertation writing fellowships for which advanced students may apply and limited summer funding, comprising summer teaching and grading work, summer research support, internship and community engagement funding.
Absolutely! Please email the Director of English Graduate Studies to let us know when you plan to visit. We can arrange for you to meet with faculty and students, sit in on classes, attend literary events, and enjoy Oxford.
English has a limited number of application fee waivers. To request an application fee waiver, please email the Director of English Graduate Studies.
Our online handbook for English M.A. and Ph.D. students contains more detailed information about our programs. Additionally, you can email the Director of English Graduate Studies if you have questions about the application process or about the program.
Our graduates are working at private and public regional and flagship universities, liberal arts colleges, independent and private secondary schools, in media, and in academic adjacent roles within universities and in the nonprofit sector.
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