Overview

You want a flexible and affordable bachelor’s degree that will take your reading and writing skills to the next level. Join our 100% online Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Gain advanced communication, writing and critical thinking skills. You’ll study fiction, poetry, women’s reading and writing, British and American literature, writing for digital media podcasting and more. A liberal arts education from UMKC can help you unlock careers in many fields from teaching, journalism, technical writing, editing and publishing to project management, non-profit work, communications and marketing. As you advance in this program, choose a course load that fits your needs in literature, culture, new media or multimodal writing and rhetoric.

This program is ideal if you’re a working professional, have completed some credits from community college or are ready to earn a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university. UMKC’s Department of English offers educational experiences that take you beyond the traditional classroom and into the real world with hands-on projects and practicum courses in editing, publishing and digital humanities that offer skills employers desire. Choose UMKC and earn your bachelor’s in just three to four years from home.

Program Structure

Delivery of this program is 100% online. Courses are semester-based. Students pursuing this path must first complete 33 hours of UMKC general education courses in written composition, the arts and humanities, the physical and behavioral sciences, culture and diversity, oral communication and mathematics. From here, you progress onto a 36-credit-hour core covering literary studies, rhetoric and writing.

You’ll pair your core courses with 51 credit hours of electives. Students typically take four courses each semester and finish in three to four years.

Course work includes:

• Detective fiction
• Victorian authorship and publishing
• Shakespeare and film
• Race in American literature
• Literacy studies
• Arthurian legends
• Digital humanities
• Internships with Andrews McMeel Publishing, The Pitch, KC Magazine and others

Courses

Courses are synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous courses occur at regularly scheduled times. Asynchronous courses do not have regular meetings. They may consist of various media and content — such as online discussions, videos, worksheets and recordings — that students review and complete at the time of their choice.

Internships and practicum courses

Internships are encouraged but not required. There are multiple opportunities each semester to take publication practicum courses that will give you hands-on skills that will translate well to the job market, including podcasting, digitization projects, publishing and editing experience.

Course planner

The chart below shows the courses offered in the program. Courses are 3 credit hours each, unless stated otherwise. The university reserves the right to change or cancel courses as needed.

Nondegree-Seeking Enrollment

Prior to acceptance into the program, you may enroll in up to 6 credit hours as a nondegree-seeking (in some cases, post-baccalaureate) student. Enrollment does not guarantee acceptance. Learn more about nondegree-seeking university student admissions.

State Authorization

States require that the University of Missouri-Kansas City be authorized to deliver university-level distance/online education to their residents. Each state handles this process differently.

Please see our state authorization page for more information.

Authorized with stipulations

Students residing in these states may be eligible to enroll in this program, but certain stipulations exist.

• Colorado

How to Apply

Fulfill the admission requirements

For freshmen

• Official test scores, like ACT or SAT, if applicable.
  • Freshman applicants also have the option of being reviewed with or without test scores, please see the Freshman Application Process for more information.
• Completed 17 specific high school courses with good grades.
• For a list of test scores and high school courses, review the Freshman Application Process.

For transfer students

• General admission GPA requirements.
• Official test scores, like ACT or SAT, if applicable.

Review additional Transfer Application Process.

Required documents

• Citizenship, residency and visa information (if applicable)
• Names and locations of previous college or high school and dates you attended
• Transcripts

Complete the online application

• Domestic application fee: No application fee. All new undergraduate, domestic, first-time college students can apply without paying an application fee.
• International application fee: $75.00

Note: If you were ever enrolled at UMKC as a degree-seeking student, you do not need to resubmit the general UMKC application fee.

Application fee waiver questions: Contact the UMKC Office of Admissions with questions via 816-235-8652 or 1-800-775-8652 or admissions@umkc.edu.

Apply to UMKC 

Program Contact

Cassandra Allen Office Support Assistant IV Phone: 816-235-1307 Email: cjallen@umkc.edu

Tuition and Fees

These estimates are for illustrative purposes only and are based on academic year 2024-2025 information. They include:

• Online course fee of per credit hour for 60 hours
• Academic Program Rate of per credit hour for 60 hours

These estimates are for illustrative purposes only and are based on academic year 2024-2025 information. They include:

• General Education Program Rate of per credit hour for 60 hours
• Academic Program Rate of per credit hour for 60 hours
• Online course fee of per credit hour for 120 hours