Virtual MA

Advance your Career in Teaching and Research - From Anywhere

Girl with laptop

 

Master the art of rhetoric, composition, and writing instruction from the comfort of your home. The master’s degree in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English prepares you to be an expert in rhetoric, composition, and writing pedagogy to advance your career in education, research, or professional writing across a wide range of contexts.

Classes are based in Tucson but are offered virtually in an online synchronous format through the university’s Distance campus. Attend courses simultaneously with our in-person Main Campus students, learning from distinguished faculty. 

WE ARE NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE VIRTUAL MA PROGRAM (Synchronous Online) TO START FALL 2025 AND SPRING 2026

Career Paths with a RCTE MA

Drawing upon our long history of success, the RCTE MA program is designed for students intending to work across a range of settings.

  • Research-focused universities with tenure-stream and career-track faculty
  • Specialized industries requiring expertise in areas such as usability studies
  • Non-for profit, private, or government sectors including national research labs and other think tanks

About the RCTE Program

If you love to teach writing and learn about the conditions that inform its production, the RCTE program is for you. This is ordinarily a two-year course of study (four semesters). Students who are working full-time as teachers in local schools may take longer, up to a Graduate College limit of six years.

You must complete 33 units for the M.A. degree. At least 21 units must be taken in RCTE. All courses will be scheduled to meet 4PM Arizona time or later (keep in mind Arizona doesn't follow daylight savings!).

Coursework is concentrated within RCTE, although there are opportunities to explore courses in the other English programs, as well as outside the department. If you are interested in having an outside course count as a requirement, you should obtain a copy of the course syllabus and consult with the RCTE Program Director.

Please see this link for more information about MA course requirements. 

RCTE has established a multitude of opportunities for graduate students to collaborate and study with other outstanding graduate programs on our campus, including American Indian Studies, Mexican American Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, and the School of Information. Our students also have access to our department’s programs in English Applied Linguistics, Literature, and Creative Writing, as well as to exciting opportunities in the Institute of the Environment and the Institute for LGBT Studies.

How to Apply 

To apply, you must complete the University of Arizona Graduate College online application . Follow these steps: 

  1. Create a GradApp account 
  2. Complete your GradApp profile under "My Account". 
  3. Select "Apply to a Program" from the sidebar. 
    1. For Campus, select "Distance Campus". 
    2. For Location, select "Distance". 
    3. For Program Category, select "Degree Seeking". 
  4. For Program of Study, select "Rhetoric, Composition, and Teaching of English (MA)" 
  5. Choose the semester during which you wish to enter the program. 
  6. Your application should now be initiated under "My Active Applications." 

Application Checklist

Statement of Purpose

Include a statement of purpose describing why you are interested in getting an advanced degree in RCTE at the University of Arizona.

Letters of Recommendation

You'll need three letters of recommendation. These letters and forms should be sent using the UA Graduate College online system (GradApp). Please enter your referees' contact information so that they can be contacted directly by the University of Arizona. The system accepts letters through Interfolio as well. 

Transcripts

Transcripts from all colleges and universities you have attended or are currently attending. Unofficial transcripts must be uploaded with your application. You must submit official transcripts, later on, before you can be officially admitted by the Graduate College.

Curriculum Vita

Include a curriculum vita or equivalent outlining your education, scholarship, employment, and academic achievements.

Writing Sample

Preferably a paper in Rhetoric and Composition.

GRE Scores

The GRE exam is not required for admission. 

Deadline

July 15th every year for the upcoming fall semester

November 15th every year for the upcoming spring semester

 

For more information, contact RCTE Graduate Coordinator Stephanie Mao at smao@arizona.edu or RCTE Program Director Professor Matthew Abraham at mabraham1@arizona.edu 

Action-Oriented Scholarship

We are proud to serve our land-grant mission and to engage in action-oriented scholarship that recognizes the strengths and addresses the needs and potentials of the diverse communities at UA and in Southern Arizona. In RCTE, we view rhetoric and composition as arts at work in the world that must be studied and practiced in the context of broader cultural and public interests. 

In the last few years, we have shifted our program strengths and commitments to teach, engage in, and conduct research in social justice pedagogy and leadership, comparative technologies of writing, labor practices and administration for diverse environments, strategies for sustaining languages and literacies among diverse populations, community partnerships, and learning from the historical legacies of those silenced (or erased) under Western global expansion. Our graduate students are institutionally and nationally distinguished for their public engagement and action-oriented, cutting-edge and timely research, published scholarship, and innovative teaching.