Career Options
Careers for English Majors
- Writer
- Author/Novelist
- Poet
- Reporter/Journalist
- Grant Writer
- Lobbyist
- Publisher
- Essayist
- Intellectual Capital Expert
- Lawyer
- Public Relations Specialist
- Teacher/Professor
Starting Salary*
An English major’s typical starting salary is $34,424. The typical salary after 10-19 years is $69,815.
*Note: Salary information is provided for general reference only. APU does not guarantee the accuracy of the figures listed, and cannot predict or promise a specific salary for any graduate. For the most current salary estimates, please visit www.payscale.com.
Job Titles Held by Former English Majors
- Senior Editor of Intellectual Capital, Booz Allen
- Diplomat/Political Officer, Foreign Service
- Lobbyist, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
- Editor, Campbell Alliance
- Policy and Procedures Specialist, District of Colombia
- Features Reporter, Brooklyn Daily Eagle
- Literary Agent, Simon and Schuster
- Research Attorney for the Presiding Judge, Juvenile Court of Los Angeles
- Reporter, Forbes magazine
Famous People with English Degrees
- Tom Anderson (Myspace founder)
- Stephen Spielberg (film director)
- Dave Barry (humorist, writer)
- Chevy Chase (comedian, actor, writer)
- Michael Eisner (CEO, Walt Disney)
- A. Bartlett Giamatti (President, Yale University and Commissioner of Baseball)
- Cathy Guisewite (cartoonist, “Cathy”)
- Stephen King (novelist)
- Diane Sawyer (broadcast journalist)
- Sting (singer, songwriter)
- Emma Thompson (actor, producer, screenwriter)
- Clarence Thomas (U.S. Supreme Court Justice)
Note: This information is current for the 2009-10 academic year; however, all stated academic information is subject to change. Please refer to the current Academic Catalog for the most current and controlling information. For additional information, please contact the appropriate office.
