Department of EnglishSummer Teachers of English Project

STEP is currently in hiatus as we revise the program. We hope to run the program again for summer 2027. Information below is about the 2024 program.

Summer Teachers of English Project (STEP) is an exciting opportunity for rising college seniors who are interested in teaching English or writing at the college level.

If you are selected to attend STEP and complete the project successfully, you will receive automatic admission into our Master of Arts program in English or Technical Communication starting in Fall 2025*. You will also receive a two-year graduate teaching assistantship which comes with a competitive stipend and full tuition and fees waiver. This amounts to an academic award of more than $80,000.

*Successful completion of an undergraduate degree required.

Why STEP?

Have you ever considered a career in higher education? Would you like to earn a Master's Degree for free? Are you interested in teaching at a top-tier research university? Do you want to meet other students who want to learn how to

• study language, its origins, its uses, its meanings;
• study literature, the history and theory behind it, and its rich connections to social justice, the environment, and science and technology;
• examine and compare the literary works of other cultures; and
• build web sites, learn to edit writing for style and understanding, and make things easier for people to use?

We are looking for students with a passion for literature, creative writing, technical communication, linguistics, and all things English. Join us and you can conduct research, teach, and engage in other scholarly activities to speak truth to power and shape our intellectual, political, and cultural landscapes.

Apply to STEP and compete for a chance to earn a free master's degree. Learn how to teach people to think and write and start your academic career taking classes with world class faculty, in state-of-the-art facilities, alongside an increasingly diverse group of fellow graduate students. Help us bring new ideas and perspectives to English. Real change has to be on purpose. The opportunity is there for the taking. Apply now!

About STEP

STEP is a five-week graduate course where you will learn how to teach college English. Part of the course will be done online, while the other part will take place on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock.

While on campus in Lubbock, you will receive free room and board, in addition to paid transportation to and from the workshop. You'll meet fellow STEP attendees, TTU students, and faculty, while attending events and other activities introducing you to life in West Texas as a graduate student.

Your classwork will challenge you and require you to put what you have learned into practice: teaching, responding to, and evaluating the writing of TTU students in a first-year composition class.

For the final week of the course, you'll prepare a reflective assignment. Successful completion of STEP earns three hours of free graduate course credit that you can use toward an MA at TTU or elsewhere.