Prospective Graduate Students

Postgraduate Careers

Graduate students admitted to the Department of English at the University of South Florida join an established community of teacher-scholars who become leaders in their field. We begin preparing graduate students for their future careers from day one. We continue to place our graduates in assistant professorships, PhD programs, and jobs outside of the academy across the United States. USF English graduates can choose from any number of postgraduate careers.

USF English PhD graduates become faculty members at universities and colleges across the country.

Our PhD graduates have accepted tenure-track and full-time positions at a variety of institutions, including the University of Kentucky, the Dartmouth Institute for Writing and Rhetoric, Appalachian State University, Old Dominion University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Hillsborough Community College, Middle Tennessee State University, Southeastern University, Eastern Michigan University, Lee College, and CUNY-La Guardia.

Our graduates also go on to work in higher education administrative positions, including in student affairs, advising, and other leadership roles such as directors of writing centers and first year writing programs.

USF English MA graduates join top-ranked PhD programs.

Some of USF English's recent MA graduates have gone on to PhD programs at highly ranked universities, including Texas Tech, University of Pittsburgh, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), University of Mississippi, and USF.

USF Creative writing mfa graduates pursue various careers.

MFAs with significant publications (usually a book) may teach in universities and colleges. MFA graduates find employment in higher education (including community colleges and abroad) as well as in high schools, non-profit organizations, university/college administration and advising, freelance writing, copyediting, publishing, and many other fields. 

USF English graduates get jobs in non-academic fields.

We recognize that there are many wonderful career paths for graduate students outside of being a professor. In the 21st century, students in the humanities should be open to opportunities that will arise in unforeseen areas. As a department that offers programs in literature, rhetoric and composition, and creative writing, we are well aware of the value of skills that our students embody, and we create opportunities to build upon these transferable skills.

We have a robust and unique internship program that places graduate students with sponsors where they work and are mentored in wide-ranging career opportunities. In recent years, our students have gone on to work in industry, nonprofits, publishing, education, and the federal government.