<p>Hello, </p>
<p>I have been pondering getting an MA in English in order to teach at the community college level. I am not willing to leave the Bay Area (particularly SF Oakland farthest south, therefore I am not interested in the PhD programs as finding employment after in the Bay Area would be daunting. I am an also an older student, almost 30. Lately I have been doing blogging, writing, mixed web development for income and would like to concentrate more on writing an actual novel and looking for something more interesting and more intellectual. In addition it would be nice to have correlated employment options to help pay the bills...I am just not into the "corporate" world and any jobs of that nature (I've done them already) seems like something out of a bad dream.</p>
<p>I did a Bachelors in English Literature at Northwestern, would going to a "lesser" program for MA be viewed as a step down? </p>
<p>I have looked into Sonoma State University and San Francisco State University.. Am I missing any other good options? </p>
<p>Unfortunately UC Berkeley, Stanford, UC Davis do not offer an MA in English. </p>
<p>Any advice would be welcome...</p>
<p>If you are interested in writing fiction, an MFA may be more what you are looking for. SF State has an MFA program, although be forewarned that it can be extremely competitive to gain admission into many MFA programs. You can always do a low-residency MFA at one of the many programs across the US; you attend brief residencies for 10-14 days at a time and do the rest of the work at home.</p>
<p>If you want an MA in English literature, and only want it to teach at the CC level, it doesn’t matter whether a program is a step down from Northwestern. Apply to the programs you’ve found. Most CCs care about the degree, not where it was earned. Although you can get a permanent position with an MA, most likely you will be hired as an adjunct – that is, paid by the credit, without benefits.</p>
<p>Yes I have looked at the MFA at SF State and USF. I have heard though that the MA is a better preparation for teaching. Being adjunct would be fine by me. I looked at USF MFA and they didn’t have any teaching as part of the curriculum.</p>
<p>I think a Master’s Degree in Journalism would fit your interests. Have you considered Berkeley’s journalism program?</p>
<p>The MA is not any better than an MFA – in fact, if you want to teach writing, it’s worse. An MFA, with publications, qualifies you for tenure track positions at four year colleges. (Not that those are easy to get.) An MA does not.</p>
<p>You have to decide what you want to teach. If you want to teach literature at a CC, the MA is the way to go. If you want to teach creative writing and composition (with a few literature classes thrown in from time to time), then you want the MFA. You can also look into a master’s in rhetoric if you’re interested in teaching nonfiction/essay writing or want a job in a college’s writing center.</p>
<p>I have definitely thought about the journalism route, Northwestern had a great program in journalism and I have a few contacts there and I minored in Political Science. I am more concerned with the paycheck from journalism, everybody tells me it is somewhat of a dying field. I know several online magazine/directories I work with and developed their websites pay clam shells to their freelancers. Possibly it is that image I have come away with of low pay/low stability…I suppose all careers in this area are similar though. Would an MA Journalism allow one to adjunct as well?
I welcome the suggestion by the way.</p>