BA in English

Why pursue an English degree at North Central College?

The English department encourages and develops students’ potential as readers and writers, creators, and critics. With a shared goal of practicing and refining close-reading skills, together students and faculty explore the varied and changing worlds of fiction, essays, poetry, drama, film, and language itself. Students in English —thus solidly based in literature, writing, and language, cross borders of geography, history, and genre, creating and responding — on paper and on-screen -- to a variety of texts in verbal and visual modes. With the added experience in the department’s literary and humor magazines, college newspaper, focused independent studies, internships, and honor society, English students are well prepared for graduate work in many fields and for careers in business, teaching, and law.

You can also:

• Earn an optional upper-level concentration in writing or literature.
• Work toward your teaching license by also majoring in secondary education.
• Gain practical experience in student-run publications (newspaper, humor magazine, journal of creative writing).
• Join the Sigma Tau Delta English honor society and participate in nationwide undergraduate conferences and local social and service activities.
• Combine English with other majors, such as political science or business, to prepare for graduate or law school or business careers.
• Conduct independent research requiring travel or special resources, and present your results at local and national academic conferences with the support of a Richter Grant.

Since 1861, North Central has been a place where new ideas lead to unlimited possibilities. We’re an independent college dedicated to the power of the liberal arts and sciences to transform students into leaders both in their careers and communities. Our nearly 3,000 students study across more than 65 undergraduate and graduate programs, with their education, made richer by supportive faculty and staff, world-class facilities, and countless opportunities to learn beyond the classroom.

A College on the move

Building on the foundation of more than 150 years of excellence, North Central continues to grow with numerous new facilities, programs, and initiatives in the works.

The College opened with 40 students in a single two-story building in Plainfield, Illinois. Since then we’ve changed names twice (to North-Western, then North Central), moved once (from Plainfield to Naperville), and grown steadily (to about 3,000 students).

Over the years, thousands of dedicated students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends have helped us thrive through the toughest challenges – wars, economic crises, social upheavals, and more – and build a future brilliant with hope and promise.

We’ve met the changing needs of students from Civil War veterans to millennial entrepreneurs. And we’ve always stayed true to our heritage of moral courage and forward-thinking.

Today we’re a top-ranked private comprehensive college of the liberal arts and sciences. U.S. News & World Report counts us among “America’s Best Colleges,” one of the top six schools in the Midwest for a “strong commitment to undergraduate teaching.” Students choose from more than 55 undergraduate majors and five graduate program areas.

Although the College originally discouraged organized athletics as a distraction from weightier matters, our 26 intercollegiate sports in NCAA Division III make our athletic department the largest in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW). North Central is proud of its 32 team national championships and 123 individual national champions.

Though affiliated with the United Methodist Church, we welcome and encourage students and staff of all faiths. We are thoughtfully expanding our academic programs to respond to the needs of our ever-changing world, recently adding Middle Eastern and North African Studies, along with Arabic. And we’re transforming our facilities – most dramatically with a new interdisciplinary Science Center located at the corner of Brainard Street and Van Buren Avenue.

It’s been an amazing 150+ years. But it’s clear that the best is yet to come!