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Fully Funded MFA Programs in Creative Writing

As part of our series  How to Fully Fund Your Master’s Degree , here is a list of universities that have fully funded MFA programs in creative writing. A Master’s of Fine Arts in creative writing can lead to a career as a professional writer, in academia, and more.

Fully funded MFA programs in Creative Writing offer a financial aid package for full-time students that includes full tuition remission as well as an annual stipend or salary during the entire program, which for Master’s degrees is usually 1-2 years. Funding usually comes with the expectation that students will teach or complete research in their field of study. Not all universities fully fund their Master’s students, which is why researching the financial aid offerings of many different programs, including small and lesser-known schools both in the U.S. and abroad, is essential.

In addition to listing fully funded Master’s and PhD programs, the ProFellow fellowships database also includes external funding opportunities for graduate school, including fellowships for dissertation research, fieldwork, language study, study abroad, summer work experiences, and professional development.

Would you like to receive the full list of more than 1000+ fully funded Master’s and PhD programs in 60 disciplines? Download the FREE Directory of Fully Funded Graduate Programs and Full Funding Awards !

Here is the list of 53 universities that offer fully-funded MFA programs (Master’s of Fine Arts) in Creative Writing.

University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL): Students admitted to the MFA Program are guaranteed full financial support for up to 4-years. Assistantships include a stipend paid over nine months (currently $14,125), and full payment of up to 15 credit hours of graduate tuition.

University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ): All accepted MFA students receive full funding through a graduate teaching assistantship for 3 years. This package includes tuition remission, health insurance, and a modest stipend (in 2018 it was about $16,100 per academic year).

Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ): 3-year program. All students admitted to the MFA program who submit a complete and approved teaching assistantship application are awarded a TA by the Department of English. Each assistantship carries a three-course per year load and includes a tuition waiver and health insurance in addition to the TA stipend ($18,564 per year). In addition, students have diverse opportunities for additional financial and professional support.

University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR): Four-year program. Teaching assistantships currently carry an annual stipend of $13,500 for students with a BA. TAs also receive a waiver of all tuition costs and teach two courses each semester. Nearly all of our accepted students receive TAs. Additionally, the students compete each year for several fellowships.

Boise State University (Boise, Idaho): 3-year fully funded MFA program dedicated to poetry and fiction. All students receive a tuition waiver, health insurance, and a Teaching Assistantship with a stipend of $11,450 per year.

Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH): 2-year program, graduate assistantships (including stipend and scholarship) are available for all eligible face-to-face students. 100% tuition scholarship. Graduate stipend (the 2020-21 stipend is $11,500).

Brown University (Providence, RI): All incoming MFA students received full funding. All graduate students receive a fellowship that pays a monthly stipend and provides tuition remission, the health fee, and health insurance. The stipend for the 2020-2021 academic year is $29,926. Also, students in good standing receive a summer stipend of $2,993.

Boston University (Boston, MA): Tuition costs will be covered for every admitted student for the MFA degree in the BU Creative Writing Program. In addition, admitted students will receive university health insurance while they are enrolled, and all admitted students will receive stipend support of roughly $16,000 for the academic year.

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY): All MFA degree candidates are guaranteed 2 years of funding (including a stipend, a full-tuition fellowship, and student health insurance).

University of California Irvine (Irvine, CA): 3-year program. The Department is committed to providing 3 full years of financial support to all domestic students in the MFA Programs in Writing. Financial support for MFA students is given in the form of Teaching Assistantships providing full tuition coverage as well as University health insurance. Students will earn an estimated $22,569 for the academic year.

University of California San Diego (La Jolla, CA): MFA in Writing students are eligible for financial support if they study full-time, maintain good academic standing and make timely progress toward the degree. All students are eligible for full funding, including international students provided they meet the English language certification requirement for teaching assistants.

University of California Riverside (Riverside, CA): All incoming students are granted a full fellowship and stipend for their first year. After the first year, students receive full tuition and a salary through teaching assistantships.

Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, FL): 3-year program. All of the MFA students qualify for a position as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. The GTA position comes with a tuition waiver and a stipend. The standard stipend is $9,000, but some enhanced stipends are available. The Graduate College offers several fellowships for current graduate students.

Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL): The majority of students receive support in the form of a teaching assistantship and are provided with a stipend, a tuition waiver, and a health-insurance subsidy. MFA students receive a three-year assistantship. For 2022-23, MA/MFA stipends will be $16,400, and typically these amounts go up each year. Also, The FSU Graduate School offers several fellowships and awards.

Georgia College & State University (Milledgeville, GA): The MFA Program offers workshops in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, and students take cross-genre workshops. All students admitted to the MFA program receive a Graduate Assistantship for all 3 years that includes a stipend and tuition remission.

University of Houston (Houston, TX): MFA students can receive a teaching assistantship for 3 years. Starting salary for MFAs is $17,935/9 months. Students in the Creative. As part of the assistantship, students are awarded either a Graduate Tuition Fellowship, which remits tuition, or a Creative Writing Program Fellowship, which covers the cost of tuition.

University of Idaho (Moscow, Idaho): All English Teaching Assistants (TA’s) are offered full tuition waivers. Teaching Assistants are given a stipend of $14,000 per year. Also offers three scholarships and three outstanding fellowships to support qualified MFA, graduate students.

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, IL): Three-year MFA program. Students accepted into the MFA program will receive full tuition waivers, guaranteed teaching assistantships.

Indiana University (Bloomington, IN): M.F.A. programs offer a generous teaching package to creative writing students. All applicants receive consideration for appropriate fellowships that will carry a stipend of about $19,000, plus tuition and fee-remission that covers roughly 90% of the cost of enrollment.

Iowa State University (Ames, IA): 3-year MFA program. Starting half-time 20 hours per week teaching assistantships for MFA students total $19,250 over 10 months and also receive a full-tuition waiver scholarship (approximate value $10,140) and health insurance coverage. The department has several resources available through which to offer fellowships and scholarships to qualifying new students.

University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA): 2-year residency program. Financial assistance is available for all students enrolled in the program, in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships, and fellowships. Most fellowships and assistantships provide either tuition scholarships or full tuition remission.

John Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD): 2-year program. All students receive full tuition, health insurance, and a generous teaching fellowship, currently set at $30,500 per year. Some students work as assistant editors on The Hopkins Review. They often win prizes such as Stegner Fellowships or grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

University of Maryland (College Park, MD): This 3-year program accepts 8 applicants who are fully funded by Teaching Assistantships for up to three years of graduate study. Our aid packages include a stipend of about $20,000 per academic year and 60 credit hours of tuition remission.

Miami University (Oxford, OH): All students admitted to the MFA program in Creative Writing hold generous Graduate Assistantships (which include a summer stipend). Non-teaching assistantships may also be available.

University of Miami (Coral Gables, FL): An intensive two-year study with a third year option. The James Michener Fellowships and Teaching Assistantships support all our graduate students. Awards include a full tuition waiver and annual stipend of $18,915.

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI): All MFA students accepted into the program are offered a full tuition waiver, a stipend of $23,000/yearly as well as $5,000 in summer funding, and health care benefits. Additionally, various fellowships and prizes are awarded each year to MFA students.

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN): All admitted MFAs receive full funding, in the form of teaching assistantships or fellowships. Teaching assistantships carry a full tuition waiver, health benefits, and a stipend of about $18,600. Also, a variety of fellowships are available for graduate students.

University of Mississippi (University, MS): All of our students are fully funded.  We offer two main sources of funding, the Grisham Fellowships and Teaching Assistantships.

University of Nevada Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV): 3-year program. All MFA students admitted to the Creative Writing International program at UNLV are offered Graduate Assistantship funding of $15,000 per year (which includes in-state tuition and provisions for health insurance).

Northwestern University (Evanston, IL): Funding is provided for 3 full years, summers included. Tuition is covered by a tuition scholarship during any quarter in which you are receiving a stipend.

University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN): Every student admitted to the MFA receives a full-tuition scholarship, a fellowship that carries a full stipend of $16,000 per year and access to a 100% health insurance subsidy.

North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC): A two-year, fully-funded program, They accept only about a dozen students each year and offer full funding in the form of a graduate teaching assistantship to all eligible admitted applicants.

Ohio State University (Columbus, OH): All admitted students are fully funded for our 3-year MFA program in Creative Writing. In addition, all students receive either a graduate teaching associateship, a Graduate School fellowship or a combination of the two. For graduate teaching associateships, the student receives a stipend of at least $17,000 for the nine-month academic year.

University of Oregon (Eugene OR): A two-year residency MFA program. All incoming MFA students funded with a teaching appointment. Student instructors receive tuition remission, monthly stipends of approximately $18,000.

Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR): All students admitted to the MFA program will automatically receive a standard teaching Graduate Teaching Assistantship contract, which provides full tuition remission and stipend of approximately $12,800 per year to cover living expenses. In addition to tuition remission, all graduate students have the option to receive 89% coverage of health insurance costs for themselves and their dependents.

University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA): 3-year MFA program. All students admitted to the program will receive Teaching Assistantships for two or three years. All Teaching Assistantships include salary, medical benefits, and tuition remission.

Rutgers University–Newark (Newark, NJ): Each full-time incoming student receives in-state Tuition Remission and a Chancellor’s Stipend of 15K per year. Students are also eligible for Teaching Assistantships, and Part-Time Lectureships teaching Comp or Creative Writing. Teaching Assistantships are $25,969 (approximate) plus health benefits.

University of South Florida (Tampa, FL): 3-year program. MFA students receive a tuition waiver, a teaching assistantship that comes with a stipend, and enrollment in group health insurance.

Southern Illinois University (Carbondale, IL): Almost all MFA students hold graduate assistantships, which provide stipends for the academic year and full remission of tuition. The annual stipend, which comes with tuition remission, ranges from $13,000 to $14,500.

Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY): Three-Year M.F.A. in Creative Writing. All students are fully funded. Each student admitted receives a full-tuition scholarship in addition to an annual stipend of $17,500.

University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC): 3-year MFA program. The MFA at Carolina is pleased to provide fellowship and/or assistantship funding to all accepted students, earning our program the designation of “fully funded” from Poets and Writers.

University of Tennessee — Knoxville (Knoxville, TN): There is no cost to apply to the MFA program. All of our PhD candidates and MFA students are fully funded, with generous opportunities for additional financial support.

University of Texas in Austin (Austin, TX): All students in the New Writers Project receive three years of full funding through a combination of teaching assistantships (TA), assistant instructorships (AI), and fellowship support. The complete package includes full tuition remission, health insurance, and a salary.

University of Texas James Michener Center (Austin, TX): A three-year, fully funded residency MFA program that provides full and equal funding to every writer. All admitted students receive a fellowship of $29,500 per academic year, plus total coverage of tuition.

Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN): Each year a small, select class of talented writers of fiction and poetry enroll in Vanderbilt’s three-year, fully-funded MFA Program in Creative Writing. The University Fellowship provides full-tuition benefits, health insurance, and a stipend of $30,000/yearly. In 2nd year and third-year students have the opportunity to teach for one semester.

University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA): Three-year MFA program. Students will receive fellowship support and/or teaching income in the amount of $20,000 each academic year, as well as full funding of your tuition, enrollment fees, and the health insurance premium for single-person coverage through the university.

Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA): Three-year MFA degree offers tracks in Poetry and Fiction, and all students are fully and equally funded via GTA-ships of more than $20,000 per year.

Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO): Because of selectivity and size they are able to offer all the new students full and equal financial aid for both years in the program in the form of a University Fellowship, which provides a complete tuition waiver plus a stipend sufficient for students to live comfortably in our relatively inexpensive city. All MFA students receive health insurance through Washington University.

Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY): Three-year, fully-funded, residential MFA program in creative writing offering generous assistantships, which will allow MFA students to gain valuable experience tutoring and teaching.

West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV): A three-year program. All Master of Fine Arts students receive a full tuition waiver and an assistantship, which includes a stipend valued at $16,750.

Wichita State University (Wichita, Kansas): Most of the MFA students are GTAs who teach two composition classes each semester. They pay no tuition, receive $4,250 each semester and may buy discounted health insurance. The MFA program also awards two $12,500 fellowships each year.

University of Wisconsin–Madison (Madison, WI): All accepted MFA candidates receive tuition remissions, teaching assistantships, generous health insurance, and other financial support. In addition to the approximately $14,680 paid to each MFA annually in exchange for teaching, every MFA candidate will receive another $9,320 in scholarships each year.

University of Wyoming (Laramie, WY): All of our full-time MFA students are fully funded with two-year graduate assistantships. Currently, assistantships include a stipend of $12,330 per academic year, a tuition and fees waiver, and student health insurance. Students also receive summer stipends of up to $2,000 for the summer.

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Our MFA database includes essential information about low- and full-residency graduate creative writing programs in the United States and other English-speaking countries to help you decide where to apply.

Adelphi University

Poetry: Jan-Henry Gray, Maya Marshall Prose: Katherine Hill, René Steinke, Igor Webb

Albertus Magnus College

Poetry: Paul Robichaud Fiction: Sarah Harris Wallman Nonfiction: Eric Schoeck

Alma College

Poetry: Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Jim Daniels, Benjamin Garcia Fiction: Karen E. Bender, Shonda Buchanan, Dhonielle Clayton, S. Kirk Walsh Creative Nonfiction: Anna Clark, Matthew Gavin Frank, Donald Quist, Robert Vivian

American University

Poetry: Kyle Dargan, David Keplinger Fiction: Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Stephanie Grant, Patricia Park Nonfiction: Rachel Louise Snyder

Antioch University

Poetry: Victoria Chang Prose: Lisa Locascio

Arcadia University

Poetry: Genevieve Betts, Michelle Reale Fiction: Stephanie Feldman, Joshua Isard, Tracey Levine, Eric Smith Literature: Matthew Heitzman, Christopher Varlack, Elizabeth Vogel, Jo Ann Weiner

Poetry: Genevieve Betts, Michelle Reale Fiction: Stephanie Feldman, Joshua Isard, Tracey Levine, Eric Smith

Arizona State University

Poetry: Sally Ball, Natalie Diaz, Alberto Álvaro Ríos, Safiya Sinclair Fiction: Matt Bell, Jenny Irish, Tara Ison, Mitchell Jackson, T. M. McNally Creative Nonfiction: Sarah Viren

Ashland University

Poetry: Dexter Booth, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Adam Gellings, Tess Taylor, Vanessa Angélica Villareal Fiction: Kirstin Chen, Edan Lepucki, Sarah Monette, Nayomi Munaweera, Vi Khi Nao, Naomi J. Williams, Kyle Winkler Nonfiction: Cass Donish, Kate Hopper, Lauren Markham, Thomas Mira y Lopez, Lisa Nikolidakis, Terese Mailhot

Augsburg University

Poetry: Michael Kleber-Diggs Fiction: Stephan Eirik Clark, Lindsay Starck Nonfiction: Anika Fajardo  Playwriting: Carson Kreitzer, TyLie Shider, Sarah Myers Screenwriting: Stephan Eirik Clark, Andy Froemke

Ball State University

Poetry: Katy Didden, Mark Neely Fiction: Cathy Day, Sean Lovelace Nonfiction: Jill Christman, Silas Hansen Screenwriting: Rani Deighe Crowe, Matt Mullins

Bard College

Jess Arndt, Shiv Kotecha, Mirene Arsanios, Hannah Black, Trisha Low, Christoper Perez, Julian Talamantez Brolaski, Simone White

Bath Spa University

Poetry: Lucy English, Tim Liardet, John Strachan, Samantha Walton, Gerard Woodward Fiction: Gavin James Bower, Celia Brayfield, Alexia Casale, Anne-Marie Crowhurst, Lucy English, Nathan Filer, Aminatta Forna, Samantha Harvey, Philip Hensher, Steve Hollyman, Emma Hooper, Claire Kendal, Natasha Pulley, Kate Pullinger, C.J. Skuse, Gerard Woodward Nonfiction: Celia Brayfield, Lily Dunn, Richard Kerridge Scriptwriting: Robin Mukherjee

Poetry: Lucy English, Tim Liardet, Gerard Woodward Fiction: Gavin James Bower, Celia Brayfield, Anne-Marie Crowhurst, Nathan Filer, Aminatta Forna, Samantha Harvey, Philip Hensher, Claire Kendal, Natasha Pulley, Kate Pullinger, Gerard Woodward Nonfiction: Lily Dunn, Richard Kerridge

Bay Path University

Mel Allen, Leanna James Blackwell, Jennifer Baker, Melanie Brooks, María Luisa Arroyo Cruzado, Shahnaz Habib, Susan Ito, Karol Jackowski, Yi Shun Lai, Anna Mantzaris, Meredith O’Brien, Mick Powell, Suzanne Strempek Shea, Tommy Shea, Kate Whouley

Bennington Writing Seminars at Bennington College

Poetry: Jennifer Chang, Michael Dumanis, Randall Mann, Craig Morgan Teicher, Mark Wunderlich Fiction: Peter Cameron, Jai Chakrabarti, Stacey D’Erasmo, Monica Ferrell, Rebecca Makkai, Stuart Nadler, Téa Obreht, Moriel Rothman-Zecher, Katy Simpson Smith, Taymour Soomro Nonfiction: Garrard Conley, Sabrina Orah Mark, Spencer Reece, Lance Richardson, Shawna Kay Rodenberg, Hugh Ryan, Greg Wrenn

Binghamton University

Poetry: Tina Chang, Joseph Weil Fiction: Amir Ahmdi Arian, Thomas Glave, Leslie L. Heywood, Claire Luchette, Liz Rosenberg, Jaimee Wriston-Colbert, Alexi Zentner Nonfiction: Amir Ahmdi Arian, Leslie L. Heywood

Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University

Poetry: Julie Hensley, Young Smith Fiction: Julie Hensley, Robert Dean Johnson Nonfiction: Robert Dean Johnson, Evan J. Massey Playwriting: Young Smith

Boise State University

Poetry: Martin Corless-Smith, Sara Nicholson, Taryn Schwilling Fiction: Mitch Wieland (Director), Anna Caritj Creative Nonfiction: Chris Violet Eaton, Clyde Moneyhun

Boston University

Poetry: Andrea Cohen, Karl Kirchwey, Robert Pinsky Fiction: Leslie Epstein, Jennifer Haigh, Ha Jin

Boston University—MFA in Literary Translation

Odile Cazenave, Yuri Corrigan, Margaret Litvin, Christopher Maurer, Roberta Micaleff, Robert Pinsky (advising), Stephen Scully, Sassan Tabatabai, J. Keith Vincent, William Waters, Dennis Wuerthner, Cathy Yeh, Anna Zielinska-Elliott

Bowling Green State University

Poetry: Abigail Cloud, Amorak Huey, Sharona Muir, F. Dan Rzicznek, Larissa Szporluk, Jessica Zinz-Cheresnick Fiction: Joe Celizic, Lawrence Coates, Reema Rajbanshi, Michael Schulz

Brigham Young University

Poetry: Kimberly Johnson, Lance Larsen, Michael Lavers, John Talbot Fiction: Chris Crowe, Ann Dee Ellis, Spencer Hyde, Stephen Tuttle Nonfiction: Joey Franklin, Patrick Madden

Brooklyn College

Poetry: Julie Agoos, Ben Lerner Fiction: Joshua Henkin, Madeleine Thien Playwriting: Dennis A. Allen II, Elana Greenfield

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15 Best Creative Writing MFA Programs in 2024

May 15, 2024

Whether you studied at a top creative writing university or are a high school dropout who will one day become a bestselling author , you may be considering an MFA in Creative Writing. But is a writing MFA genuinely worth the time and potential costs? How do you know which program will best nurture your writing? If you’re considering an MFA, this article walks you through the best full-time, low residency, and online Creative Writing MFA programs in the United States.

What are the best Creative Writing MFA programs?

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this article, let’s start with the basics. What is an MFA, anyway?

A Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is a graduate degree that usually takes from two to three years to complete. Applications typically require a sample portfolio, usually 10-20 pages (and sometimes up to 30-40) of your best writing. Moreover, you can receive an MFA in a particular genre, such as Fiction or Poetry, or more broadly in Creative Writing. However, if you take the latter approach, you often have the opportunity to specialize in a single genre.

Wondering what actually goes on in a creative writing MFA beyond inspiring award-winning books and internet memes ? You enroll in workshops where you get feedback on your creative writing from your peers and a faculty member. You enroll in seminars where you get a foundation of theory and techniques. Then, you finish the degree with a thesis project. Thesis projects are typically a body of polished, publishable-quality creative work in your genre—fiction, nonfiction, or poetry.

Why should I get an MFA in Creative Writing?

You don’t need an MFA to be a writer. Just look at Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison or bestselling novelist Emily St. John Mandel.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of reasons you might still want to get a creative writing MFA. The first is, unfortunately, prestige. An MFA from a top program can help you stand out in a notoriously competitive industry to be published.

The second reason: time. Many MFA programs give you protected writing time, deadlines, and maybe even a (dainty) salary.

Third, an MFA in Creative Writing is a terminal degree. This means that this degree allows you to teach writing at the university level, especially after you publish a book.

Fourth: resources. MFA programs are often staffed by brilliant, award-winning writers; offer lecture series, volunteer opportunities, and teaching positions; and run their own (usually prestigious) literary magazines. Such resources provide you with the knowledge and insight you’ll need to navigate the literary and publishing world on your own post-graduation.

But above all, the biggest reason to pursue an MFA is the community it brings you. You get to meet other writers—and share feedback, advice, and moral support—in relationships that can last for decades.

Types of Creative Writing MFA Programs

Here are the different types of programs to consider, depending on your needs:

Fully-Funded Full-Time Programs

These programs offer full-tuition scholarships and sweeten the deal by actually paying you to attend them.

• Pros: You’re paid to write (and teach).
• Cons: Uprooting your entire life to move somewhere possibly very cold.

Full-Time MFA Programs

These programs include attending in-person classes and paying tuition (though many offer need-based and merit scholarships).

• Pros: Lots of top-notch non-funded programs have more assets to attract world-class faculty and guests.
• Cons: It’s an investment that might not pay itself back.

Low-Residency MFA Programs

Low-residency programs usually meet biannually for short sessions. They also offer one-on-one support throughout the year. These MFAs are more independent, preparing you for what the writing life is actually like.

• Pros: No major life changes required. Cons: Less time dedicated to writing and less time to build relationships.

Online MFA Programs

Held 100% online. These programs have high acceptance rates and no residency requirement. That means zero travel or moving expenses.

• Pros: No major life changes required.
• Cons: These MFAs have less name recognition.

The Top 15 Creative Writing MFA Programs Ranked by Category

The following programs are selected for their balance of high funding, impressive return on investment, stellar faculty, major journal publications , and impressive alums.

FULLY FUNDED MFA PROGRAMS

1) johns hopkins university , mfa in fiction/poetry.

This two-year program offers an incredibly generous funding package: $39,000 teaching fellowships each year. Not to mention, it offers that sweet, sweet health insurance, mind-boggling faculty, and the option to apply for a lecture position after graduation. Many grads publish their first book within three years (nice). No nonfiction MFA (boo).

• Location: Baltimore, MD
• Incoming class size: 8 students (4 per genre)
• Admissions rate: 4-8%
• Alumni: Chimamanda Adichie, Jeffrey Blitz, Wes Craven, Louise Erdrich, Porochista Khakpour, Phillis Levin, ZZ Packer, Tom Sleigh, Elizabeth Spires, Rosanna Warren

2) University of Texas, James Michener Center

The only MFA that offers full and equal funding for every writer. It’s three years long, offers a generous yearly stipend of $30k, and provides full tuition plus a health insurance stipend. Fiction, poetry, playwriting, and screenwriting concentrations are available. The Michener Center is also unique because you study a primary genre and a secondary genre, and also get $4,000 for the summer.

• Location : Austin, TX
• Incoming class size : 12 students
• Acceptance rate: a bone-chilling less-than-1% in fiction; 2-3% in other genres
• Alumni: Fiona McFarlane, Brian McGreevy, Karan Mahajan, Alix Ohlin, Kevin Powers, Lara Prescott, Roger Reeves, Maria Reva, Domenica Ruta, Sam Sax, Joseph Skibell, Dominic Smith

3) University of Iowa

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is a 2-year program on a residency model for fiction and poetry. This means there are low requirements, and lots of time to write groundbreaking novels or play pool at the local bar. All students receive full funding, including tuition, a living stipend, and subsidized health insurance. The Translation MFA , co-founded by Gayatri Chakravorti Spivak, is also two years long but with more intensive coursework. The Nonfiction Writing Program is a prestigious three-year MFA program and is also intensive.

• Incoming class size: 25 each for poetry and fiction; 10-12 for nonfiction and translation.
• Acceptance rate: 2.7-3.7%
• Fantastic Alumni: Raymond Carver, Flannery O’Connor, Sandra Cisneros, Joy Harjo, Garth Greenwell, Kiley Reid, Brandon Taylor, Eula Biss, Yiyun Li, Jennifer Croft

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs (Continued) 

4) university of michigan.

Anne Carson famously lives in Ann Arbor, as do the MFA students in UMichigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program. This is a big university town, which is less damaging to your social life. Plus, there’s lots to do when you have a $25,000 stipend, summer funding, and health care.

This is a 2-3-year program in either fiction or poetry, with an impressive reputation. They also have a demonstrated commitment to “ push back against the darkness of intolerance and injustice ” and have outreach programs in the community.

• Location: Ann Arbor, MI
• Incoming class size: 18 (9 in each genre)
• Acceptance rate: 2%
• Alumni: Brit Bennett, Vievee Francis, Airea D. Matthews, Celeste Ng, Chigozie Obioma, Jia Tolentino, Jesmyn Ward

5) Brown University

Brown offers an edgy, well-funded program in a place that only occasionally dips into arctic temperatures. All students are fully funded for 2 years, which includes tuition remission and a $32k yearly stipend. Students also get summer funding and—you guessed it—that sweet, sweet health insurance.

In the Brown Literary Arts MFA, students take only one workshop and one elective per semester. It’s also the only program in the country to feature a Digital/Cross Disciplinary Track.  Fiction and Poetry Tracks are offered as well.

• Location: Providence, RI
• Incoming class size: 12-13
• Acceptance rate: “highly selective”
• Alumni: Edwidge Danticat, Jaimy Gordon, Gayl Jones, Ben Lerner, Joanna Scott, Kevin Young, Ottessa Moshfegh

6) University of Arizona

This 3-year program with fiction, poetry, and nonfiction tracks has many attractive qualities. It’s in “ the lushest desert in the world, ” and was recently ranked #4 in creative writing programs, and #2 in Nonfiction. You can take classes in multiple genres, and in fact, are encouraged to do so. Plus, Arizona’s dry heat is good for arthritis.

This notoriously supportive program is fully funded. Moreover, teaching assistantships that provide a salary, health insurance, and tuition waiver are offered to all students. Tucson is home to a hopping literary scene, so it’s also possible to volunteer at multiple literary organizations and even do supported research at the US-Mexico Border.

• Location: Tucson, AZ
• Incoming class size: usually 6
• Acceptance rate: 1.2% (a refreshingly specific number after Brown’s evasiveness)
• Alumni: Francisco Cantú, Jos Charles, Tony Hoagland, Nancy Mairs, Richard Russo, Richard Siken, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, David Foster Wallace

7) Arizona State University 

With concentrations in fiction and poetry, Arizona State is a three-year funded program in arthritis-friendly dry heat. It offers small class sizes, individual mentorships, and one of the most impressive faculty rosters in the game. Moreover, it encourages cross-genre study.

Funding-wise, everyone has the option to take on a teaching assistantship position, which provides a tuition waiver, health insurance, and a yearly stipend of $25k. Other opportunities for financial support exist as well.

• Location: Tempe, AZ
• Incoming class size: 8-10
• Acceptance rate: 3% (sigh)
• Alumni: Tayari Jones, Venita Blackburn, Dorothy Chan, Adrienne Celt, Dana Diehl, Matthew Gavin Frank, Caitlin Horrocks, Allegra Hyde, Hugh Martin, Bonnie Nadzam

FULL-RESIDENCY MFAS (UNFUNDED)

8) new york university.

This two-year program is in New York City, meaning it comes with close access to literary opportunities and hot dogs. NYU also has one of the most accomplished faculty lists anywhere. Students have large cohorts (more potential friends!) and have a penchant for winning top literary prizes. Concentrations in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction are available.

• Location: New York, NY
• Incoming class size: ~60; 20-30 students accepted for each genre
• Acceptance rate: 6-9%
• Alumni: Nick Flynn, Nell Freudenberger, Aracelis Girmay, Mitchell S. Jackson, Tyehimba Jess, John Keene, Raven Leilani, Robin Coste Lewis, Ada Limón, Ocean Vuong

9) Columbia University

Another 2-3 year private MFA program with drool-worthy permanent and visiting faculty. Columbia offers courses in fiction, poetry, translation, and nonfiction. Beyond the Ivy League education, Columbia offers close access to agents, and its students have a high record of bestsellers. Finally, teaching positions and fellowships are available to help offset the high tuition.

• Incoming class size: 110
• Acceptance rate: not publicized (boo)
• Alumni: Alexandra Kleeman, Rachel Kushner, Claudia Rankine, Rick Moody, Sigrid Nunez, Tracy K. Smith, Emma Cline, Adam Wilson, Marie Howe, Mary Jo Bang

10) Sarah Lawrence 

Sarah Lawrence offers a concentration in speculative fiction in addition to the average fiction, poetry, and nonfiction choices. Moreover, they encourage cross-genre exploration. With intimate class sizes, this program is unique because it offers biweekly one-on-one conferences with its stunning faculty. It also has a notoriously supportive atmosphere, and many teaching and funding opportunities are available.

• Location: Bronxville, NY
• Incoming class size: 30-40
• Acceptance rate: not publicized
• Alumni: Cynthia Cruz, Melissa Febos, T Kira Madden, Alex Dimitrov, Moncho Alvarado

LOW RESIDENCY

11) bennington college.

This two-year program boasts truly stellar faculty, and meets twice a year for ten days in January and June. It’s like a biannual vacation in beautiful Vermont, plus mentorship by a famous writer. The rest of the time, you’ll be spending approximately 25 hours per week on reading and writing assignments. Students have the option to concentrate in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Uniquely, they can also opt for a dual-genre focus.

The tuition is $23,468 per year, with scholarships available. Additionally, Bennington offers full-immersion teaching fellowships to MFA students, which are extremely rare in low-residency programs.

• Location: Bennington, VT
• Acceptance rate: 53%
• Incoming class: 25-35
• Alumni: Larissa Pham, Andrew Reiner, Lisa Johnson Mitchell, and others

12)  Institute for American Indian Arts

This two-year program emphasizes Native American and First Nations writing. With truly amazing faculty and visiting writers, they offer a wide range of genres, including screenwriting, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. In addition, each student is matched with a faculty mentor who works with them one-on-one throughout the semester.

Students attend two eight-day residencies each year, in January and July, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At $12,000 in tuition a year, it boasts being “ one of the most affordable MFA programs in the country .”

• Location: Santa Fe, NM
• Incoming class size : 21
• Alumni: Tommy Orange, Dara Yen Elerath, Kathryn Wilder

13) Vermont College of Fine Arts

VCFA is the only graduate school on this list that focuses exclusively on the fine arts. Their MFA in Writing offers concentrations in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction; they also offer an MFA in Literary Translation and one of the few MFAs in Writing for Children and Young Adults . Students meet twice a year for nine days, in January and July, either in-person or online. Here, they receive one-on-one mentorship that continues for the rest of the semester. You can also do many travel residencies in exciting (and warm) places like Cozumel.

VCFA boasts amazing faculty and visiting writers, with individualized study options and plenty of one-on-one time. Tuition for the full two-year program is approximately $54k.

• Location : Various; 2024/25 residencies are in Colorado and California
• Incoming class size: 18-25
• Acceptance rate: 63%
• Alumnx: Lauren Markham, Mary-Kim Arnold, Cassie Beasley, Kate Beasley, Julie Berry, Bridget Birdsall, Gwenda Bond, Pablo Cartaya

ONLINE MFAS

14) university of texas at el paso.

UTEP is considered the best online MFA program, and features award-winning faculty from across the globe. Accordingly, this program is geared toward serious writers who want to pursue teaching and/or publishing. Intensive workshops allow submissions in Spanish and/or English, and genres include poetry and fiction.

No residencies are required, but an optional opportunity to connect in person is available every year. This three-year program costs about $25-30k total, depending on whether you are an in-state or out-of-state resident.

• Location: El Paso, TX
• Acceptance rate: “highly competitive”
• Alumni: Watch alumni testimonies here

15) Bay Path University

This 2-year online, no-residency program is dedicated entirely to nonfiction. Featuring a supportive, diverse community, Bay Path offers small class sizes, close mentorship, and an optional yearly field trip to Ireland.

There are many tracks, including publishing, narrative medicine, and teaching creative writing. Moreover, core courses include memoir, narrative journalism, food/travel writing, and the personal essay. Tuition is approximately $31,000 for the entire program, with scholarships available.

• Location: Longmeadow, MA
• Incoming class size: 20
• Alumni: Read alumni testimonies here

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs — Final Thoughts

Whether you’re aiming for a fully funded, low residency, or completely online MFA program, there are plenty of incredible options available—all of which will sharpen your craft while immersing you in the vibrant literary arts community.

Hoping to prepare for your MFA in advance? You might consider checking out the following:

• Best English Programs
• Best Colleges for Creative Writing
• Writing Summer Programs
• Best Writing Competitions for High School Students

Inspired to start writing? Get your pencil ready:

• 100 Creative Writing Prompts 
• 1 00 Tone Words to Express Mood in Your Writing
• 60 Senior Project Ideas
• Common App Essay Prompts

Best MFA Creative Writing Programs – References:

• https://www.pw.org/mfa
• The Creative Writing MFA Handbook: A Guide for Prospective Graduate Students , by Tom Kealey (A&C Black 2005)
• Graduate School Admissions

Julia Conrad

With a Bachelor of Arts in English and Italian from Wesleyan University as well as MFAs in both Nonfiction Writing and Literary Translation from the University of Iowa, Julia is an experienced writer, editor, educator, and a former Fulbright Fellow. Julia’s work has been featured in  The Millions ,  Asymptote , and  The Massachusetts Review , among other publications. To read more of her work, visit  www.juliaconrad.net

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Michener Center for Writers

Mfa in writing.

The Michener Center for Writers is the only Creative Writing M.F.A. program in the world that provides full and equal funding to every writer—yet it is our extraordinary faculty and sense of community that most distinguishes us. Our program is a three-year, fully-funded residency M.F.A. with a unique multi-disciplinary focus. Writers apply and are admitted in a primary genre—fiction, poetry, playwriting or screenwriting—and study in both their primary and a secondary genre(s). There are no teaching duties, a luxury that allows our Fellows to commit themselves fully to their writing. And because only twelve writers are admitted each year, our faculty can devote ample time and energy to every writer. With unparalleled support and the deeply held belief that literary art matters now more than ever, the Michener Center offers writers 3 years of unencumbered space to make the work that only they can make.

News & Events

2024 emmy nominations: mcw alumni & their work.

The 2024 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced this week. We’re thrilled to see three MCW alumni and their work in the mix!   Shōgun, written… Read more

5 New Books by MCW Alumni to Read This Summer

1. The World After Alice by Lauren Aliza Green “When Morgan and Benji surprise their families with a wedding invitation to Maine, they’re aware the… Read more

Alumn John McManus Wins American Short(er) Fiction Prize

Alumn John McManus (MCW 2004) is the winner of the 2024 American Short(er) Fiction Prize, judged by Dantiel W. Moniz for his story “Jack Sprat’s… Read more

MCW Alumn Monica Macansantos Awarded Shearing Fellowship

MCW Alumn Monica Macansantos (MCW 2013) been awarded a Black Mountain Institute 2024-2025 Shearing Fellowship. The fellowship brings writers to the UNLV campus for one year… Read more

MCW Alumn Rachel Kondo to Receive Austin Film Festival New Voices Award

Rachel Kondo (MCW 2016), co-creator of Shōgun on FX, has been awarded the 2024 New Voice Award from Austin Film Festival. Kondo is being honored alongside… Read more

Alumni Work Streaming This Summer

Look out for MCW alumni work in your feed this summer: TV series Shōgun (FX) and Fallout (Prime Video), and podcast Pack One Bag (Lemonade… Read more

MCW Fellow Darius Atefat-Peckham is Keene Prize Runner-Up

Michener Center Fellow Darius Atefat-Peckham has been named a runner-up for the 2024 UT Keene Prize for Literature, for an excerpt from his forthcoming book… Read more

Alumn Abe Koogler’s Play Opens to Positive Reviews

Michener Center Playwriting Alumnus Abe Koogler‘s play Staff Meal has opened to rave reviews, with recent coverage from The New York Times, Vulture, Observer, New York Theatre… Read more

The Michener Center aims to be a welcoming, inspiring, and invigorating community where writers feel safe and supported to take chances on the page. We are extremely proud that there is no hierarchy here—all students receive equal funding—and we firmly believe that our egalitarian approach fosters a higher level of work that more competitive environments suppress.

Our MFA candidates have come from places as varied as western India, South Korea, eastern Europe, and northern Idaho. Their backgrounds and experiences lend to the pages they produce, which are unique and uniquely vital. We aren’t seeking writers of any particular aesthetic, but rather we are looking for writers whose work is distinct, urgent, and arresting.

Each year, we receive hundreds of applications for twelve seats in the cohort. We accept only full-time, in-residence candidates for the three-year program. There is no low-residency or part-time option.

Applicants must meet the UT Graduate School’s minimum requirements for consideration, which include completion of a Bachelor’s Degree prior to enrollment. The Michener Center no longer requires GRE scores.

James Michener was the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of over 40 books, including Texas , Hawaii , and Tales of the South Pacific . In his final years, he and his wife, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, moved to Austin, TX, where they endowed the Texas Center for Writers, a three-year MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Texas. The first cohort of Michener Fellows graduated in 1996. After Mr. Michener’s death in 1997, the Center was renamed in his honor.

To ensure both continuity and fresh perspectives, the Michener Center faculty is built with fixed and moving parts. Writers from UT’s departments of English, Theatre and Dance, and Radio-Television-Film comprise our Resident Faculty, and each year we also welcome an exciting roster of distinguished Visiting Faculty. That our faculty members—resident and visiting—are as passionate about their teaching as they are their writing is of the utmost importance. Like our students, our faculty afford the program a wealth of varied experience, an abiding sense of shared enterprise, and deep commitment to the making of literary art. For more on our outstanding faculty in each genre, visit our Faculty page .

Creative Writing Program

The New School invites you to join a community of diverse writers, become part of New York City’s publishing world, and build a network of support on campus and beyond. Our prestigious MFA Creative Writing program is designed to help you develop your writing in supportive workshops and literature seminars led by an internationally recognized faculty and renowned authors.

books published annually by alumni and faculty

annual writing events, including the National Book Awards Finalist Reading

of admitted MFA students awarded merit-based university scholarships (2020–2021)

MFA in Creative Writing

As an MFA student at The New School, you can choose your concentration—in Arts Writing, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, or Writing for Children and Young Adults—and receive personalized faculty mentorship and faculty and peer critiques. Innovative courses in publishing and multimedia storytelling engage you in the development of literature. Popular graduate minors include Impact Entrepreneurship and Transmedia and Digital Storytelling . Or you can apply to WriteOn NYC! , a New School–funded fellowship program providing MFA students with high-quality teaching experience in area middle schools and high schools. All students benefit from evening classes and events, which enable them to work or attend responsibilities during the day while enrolled in a  full-time program.

Related Programs

In addition to the renowned MFA in Creative Writing, The New School offers other programs and opportunities for writing students. These include noncredit courses and summer intensives, as well as an undergraduate major in the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students, the Writing and Democracy Honors Program, and undergraduate minors in related fields. Summer Writing Intensive Continuing Education Courses Writing & Democracy Honors Program BA in Creative Writing Undergraduate Creative Writing Courses

• Meet our faculty

The Writer’s Life in NYC

Creative Writing students come to The New School from across the United States and around the world to live the writer's life in New York City. Evenings with agents and editors, offered exclusively for MFA students, provide informal opportunities to meet publishing professionals.

The New School Bookshelf

We are proud to feature books recently published by The New School's Creative Writing community.

Sigrid Nunez, Faculty

Hurricane Child

Kacen callender, mfa '14.

The Impeachers

Brenda wineapple, faculty.

The January Children

Safia elhillo, mfa '15.

Mira Jacob, Faculty and MFA '01

Events & news.

Stories of Power and Transformation: A Conversation on Memoir

Featuring Francine Prose

A Conversation with Jia Tolentino

• Bob McKinnon, Parsons Faculty Member, Debuts New Children’s Book
• The Vera List Center for Art and Politics Presents New School New Books Event Series
• Adrian Madlener, History of Design and Curatorial Studies ’18, Explores Design Through Writing and Research
• The Vera List Center for Art and Politics Hosts Reading Room Featuring Faculty Books
• Richard Barone, School of Jazz and Contemporary Music Faculty Member, Debuts New Book about Music Scene in 1960’s Greenwich Village
• New Faculty Achievements from Across The New School Include Fellowships, Grants, and More

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Creative Writing

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Get In Touch

A graduate admissions representative is ready to answer your questions about this program. Email   David Marts today.

Creative Writing (MFA)

The fall 2024 application deadline has passed. to recieve an alert when the 2025 application opens, please click here . , time to degree:  2 years across genres, part-time options are available.

Our Creative Writing MFA is a single, seamless program that allows you to take classes in as many genres as you like (poetry, fiction, or nonfiction). This MFA supports hybrid writing that combines elements of more than one genre.

We're interested in the rich literary history by which the genres are traditionally constituted, and in the ways in which such definitions may fall away.

Writing of all kinds happens here in a supportive, exceptionally creative community.

As a full- or part-time student in the Creative Writing MFA program at Columbia, you'll be a member of a vibrant community of writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and hybrid work across genres. Innovative and exploratory approaches are encouraged, as are more traditional approaches to prose and/or poetic forms. With an unusually large, well-published, aesthetically diverse faculty, you'll be stimulated and nurtured as a writer in one of the most exciting cities in the country for emerging literary artists.

Quick Links

See application requirements  | View Required Courses  |  View program costs (PDF)

In the Classroom

As a student in Columbia College Chicago's Creative Writing MFA program, you'll have close working relationships with our award-winning faculty members in an intimate community of writers. You'll find a home at Columbia if you're looking for a program that emphasizes discipline and process, craft and critical thinking, and cross-genre possibilities. Our faculty members will support you in your growth as a writer. As role models and authors, they'll encourage and inspire you to experiment, take risks, and engage with other writers and artists

Core Graduate Faculty in Creative Writing:

• CM Burroughs is the author of  The Vital System  (Tupelo Press, 2012) and  Master Suffering  (Tupelo Press, 2021,) which was longlisted for the National Book Award and a finalist for the Lambda Literary and L.A. Times Book Awards. Burroughs has been awarded fellowships and grants from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, Djerassi Foundation, and Cave Canem Foundation. Burroughs' poetry has appeared in  Poetry, Callaloo, jubilat, Ploughshares, Best American Experimental Writing , and  The Golden Shovel Anthology: Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks .
• Lisa Fishman's seventh poetry collection is Mad World, Mad Kings, Mad Composition (Wave Books 2020). Earlier books include 24 Pages and other poems, F L O W E R C A R T , and The Happiness Experiment , on Wave and Ahsahta Press. Her poetry, essays, and hybrid works appear regularly in journals, and she is anthologized in Best American Experimental Writing, American Poetry: The Next Generation , and elsewhere.
• Garnett Kilberg Cohen has published three books of short stories. Her prose has appeared in many places, including The Gettysburg Review, Witness, American Fiction, TriQuarterly , and The New Yorker (2019) online. Her nonfiction has twice been awarded Notable Essay citations from Best American Essays , and several of her stories have won awards, such as the Crazyhorse Fiction Prize and the Lawrence Foundation Prize. Find more information here .
• Aviya Kushner is the author of The Grammar of God (Spiegel & Grau); a National Jewish Book Award Finalist, Sami Rohr Prize Finalist, and one of Publishers' Weekly's Top 10 Religion Stories of the Year; the chapbook Eve and All the Wrong Men (Dancing Girl Press); and the poetry collection  Wolf Lamb Bomb (Orison Books). She is The Forward's language columnist and a Howard Foundation Fellow in nonfiction.
• Alexis Pride's novels include All I Want For Christmas , (co-authored, Level 4 Press, 2021), Where the River Ends (Tanksley-Simpson Publishing), and Sex Kills with short fiction published in TriQuarterly, F Magazine, and elsewhere. Scholarly publications include "Teaching Beyond the Text: What To Do If Johnny Can't Read So Good?" (The ICERI Proceedings, Seville, Spain). See a sample of Pride's work here .  
• Joe Meno  is the author of seven novels and two short story collections, including Marvel and a Wonder , Hairstyles of the Damned , and The Boy Detective Fails . He is a winner of the Nelson Algren Award, the Great Lakes Book Award, and was a finalist for the Story Prize. His recent nonfiction book, Between Everything and Nothing , follows two asylum seekers in the Trump era.

Opportunities for Graduate Students

New MFA students may be admitted on a competitive basis to the Graduate Student Instructor program, which provides training in the teaching of undergraduate composition and is followed by the opportunity to teach Writing and Rhetoric upon approval. Assistantships are also available to new graduate students on a competitive basis. Students holding assistantships may work as teaching assistants, as editors on department publications, as events coordinators, or as faculty research assistants, among other possibilities.

See More Information

With a Creative Writing MFA, Columbia alumni go on to find employment in teaching, editing, arts administration, public relations, nonprofit agencies, literary foundations, advertising, and copywriting. Many have started successful journals and independent presses while others work for national publications or continue their studies in doctoral programs. A stunning number of our alumni have had their books and chapbooks published by both major publishing houses and on highly regarded independent presses. They have won contests and awards judged by renown writers nationally and internationally. Their voices are part of the contemporary literary landscape.

Here are just a few of our alumni who have gone on to have their work published, often by winning prestigious contests:

• Hafizah Geter (MFA '10)   poetry collection  Un-American , was published on Wesleyan University Press.
• Jan-Henry Gray (MFA '16)  is the author of  Documents , selected by D. A. Powell as the winner of the 2018 A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize and published by BOA Editions.  
• Julia Fine (MFA ’16)   is the author of  The Upstairs House  and  What Should Be Wild , which was shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Superior First Novel Award and the Chicago Review of Books Award.
• Megan Stielstra (MFA ’00)   is the author of three collections:  Everyone Remain Calm ,  Once I Was Cool , and  The Wrong Way to Save Your Life , the 2017 Nonfiction Book of the Year from the Chicago Review of Books. Her work appears in the Best American Essays, New York Times, The Believer, Poets & Writers, Tin House, Longreads, Guernica, The Rumpus, and elsewhere.  
• Naomi Washer (MFA ’15)  is the author of a novel, Subjects We Left Out (Veliz Books) and several chapbooks including  Trainsongs  (Greying Ghost Press), Phantoms (dancing girl press), and American Girl Doll (Ursus Americanus Press). She is also the translator of Sebastián Jiménez Galindo’s Experimental Gardening Manual ( Toad Press).  
• Abigail Zimmer (MFA ’14) is the editor of Lettered Streets Press and the author of two chapbooks as well as the full-length poetry collection, G irls Their Tongues , published by Orange Monkey Press.
• Amy Lipman (MFA ’14) poetry collection, Getting Dressed , was published by Spuyten Duyvil Press, and her chapbook, Cardinal Directions , was a runner-up for the Ghost Proposal Chapbook prize and published on Ghost Proposal .
• Andrew Ruzkowski's (MFA '13) poetry collections are A Shape & Sound , Do You Know This Type of Tree , and Things That Keep Us From Drifting . After his MFA, he completed a Ph.D. at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. A generous scholarship in his memory has been established for students with a primary interest in poetry at Columbia College Chicago; for information about the Andrew Ruzkowski Memorial Scholarship, see here .
• Brandi Homan (MFA '07) is the author of Bobcat Country and Hard Reds , published by Shearsman Books, and is co-founder of the feminist press, Switchback Books.
• Brittany Tomaselli (MFA '15) won the 2019 Omnidawn Chapbook Contest (poetry) judged by Carl Philips, resulting in the publication of Since Sunday on Omnidawn .
• Jeff Hoffmann (MFA '19) first novel, Other People's Children , published by Simon & Schuster.
• Leif Haven (MFA '12) won the 1913 Prize judged by Claudia Rankine, resulting in the publication of his poetry collection, Arcane Rituals From the Future , on 1913 Press.
• Kate Wisel (MFA ’17) is the author of   Driving in Cars  With  Homeless Men , winner of the 2019 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, selected by Min   Jin   Lee. She is also a part-time faculty   at Columbia.  
• Nathan Breitling's (MFA '11) poems have appeared in journals such as Court Green and The Columbia Poetry Review. A generous award in his memory has been established for MFA students with a primary interest in poetry at Columbia College Chicago; for more information about the Nathan Breitling Poetry Fellowship, see here .
• Sahar Mustafah (MFA '14) first novel was published by W. W. Norton; The Beauty of Your Face has been reviewed in the New York Times and elsewhere.
• Tyler Flynn Dorholt (MFA '09) co-edits and publishes Tammy and his chapbook, Modern Camping , was selected by John Yau for the Poetry Society of America chapbook prize. His first book, American Flowers , was published by Dock Street Press.
• Toya Wolfe's (MFA '15)  first novel  Last Summer On State Street was published by William Morrow and recently won the $25,000 Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award . The novel has received global acclaim.  
• Books, chapbooks, zines, journals, and presses have also been published and established by many other prolific MFA alumni, including: Becca Klaver, Chris Terry, Erik Fassnacht, Geling Yan, Geoff Hyatt, Holly Amos, Jessie Ann Foley, Joshua Young, Kelly Forsythe, Ryan Spooner, S. Marie Clay, Steven Teref, Toni Nealie, and more.

Chicago: A City of Writers

Living and studying in Chicago means you’ll have access to one of the richest literary scenes in the country. Readings that are free and open to the public are hosted across the city almost every night of the week; many include open mic opportunities for newcomers. Whether you incline toward story-telling venues, poetry readings, slams, avant-garde literary theater, lectures, spoken word performances or fiction readings, Chicago provides a welcoming environment for both new and established writers. Our downtown location in the South Loop sets the stage for surprising, challenging, and inspiring conversations among artists, educators, activists, scholars, and performers––whether in museums, galleries, bars, on the subway or in the stree t.   You’ll be provided with a free CTA pass while you’re in the MFA program, as well as free membership at the Chicago Institute of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art,  so you can explore Chic ago’s wealth of creativity   to your heart’s content

The Efroymson Creative Writing Reading Series

The Efroymson Creative Writing Reading Series at Columbia College Chicago has a long tradition of featuring nationally and internationally renowned writers. Hosted by the Department of English and Creative Writing, the series is committed to presenting critically engaged contemporary authors and embracing diverse voices. Every author who reads in our series also meets in an intimate, informal setting with our MFA students and a faculty host either after or before the reading. And our own MFA students “open” for the featured writers by giving a short reading of their own.

Fridays at Five Graduate Students Reading Series

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Featured story slideshow, master of fine arts in creative writing & poetics.

Image: LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs performing the opening keynote at the 2019 Fall Convergence

UW Bothell: Where Writers and Artists Converge

Find your voice as a writer while inquiring into the social, cultural and technological aspects of writing. How is writing an ethical, political and aesthetic endeavor?

Our students experiment across genres and are encouraged to extend their practice beyond the page, drawing upon media, art and performance.

Our unique curriculum includes workshops, seminars and opportunities to participate in readings, conferences and festivals.

Earn your degree with flexible evening classes designed for working professionals. Join a creative community and gain valuable skills for a vibrant writing career.

Learn more about our program below.

Explore the UW Difference

Designed for.

Writers who want to join a supportive community of literary peers and gain the credentials to work in diverse industries or teach at the college level

Program Highlights

• Experimental writing, hybrid forms and performance
• Critical thinking about contemporary literature and art
• Exploration across genres and media
• Hands-on collaboration with faculty
• Visiting writers and artists
• Connection with Seattle’s thriving literary community

Degree You'll Earn

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing & Poetics

Program Length

2 years / 6 quarters

When Classes Meet

Evenings; part-time and full-time options available

Autumn 2024 Application Deadline

February 1, 2024

Our Faculty

Anida Yoeu Ali

Senior Artist-in-Residence

Investigates the artistic, spiritual and political collisions of a hybrid transnational identity

Amaranth Borsuk

MFA Program Director Associate Professor

Works at the intersection of print and digital media

Naomi Macalalad Bragin

Associate Professor

Dancer, writer and performance ethnographer

Ching-In Chen

Assistant Professor

Hybrid writer, community organizer and performer

Jeanne Heuving

Founding Director

Teaches classes in creative writing and poetics, literature and cultural studies

Ted Hiebert

Seattle-based interdisciplinary artist and theorist

Joe Milutis

Writer and media artist

Outcomes Worth the Investment

Alumni accomplishments.

MFA alumni go on to publish their work, found literary journals and small presses, study in doctoral programs and build literary communities in Seattle and beyond. Here are some recent stories:

• MFA's Talena Lachelle Queen’s new exhibit at Paterson Museum
• MFA alumni Amy Hirayama and Emily Mundy teach workshops in somatic exploration
• MFA alum Troy Landrum Jr. selected as Wa Na Wari Fellow

Average annual salary for writers and authors in Washington state in 2022

Projected annual job growth for writers and authors in Washington state (2020–30), which is much faster-than-average job growth

* Source: O*Net Online

“ Having other people come from an experimental poetry section, which I didn’t even know was a thing. And then also Filipino mythology and folklore, and people who are brilliant poets who use sound poetry — how the words sound and feel in your mouth as opposed to how they look on the page. Experiencing all these different artistic approaches was phenomenal. It was absolutely worth every second I could spend in class to learn .”

TERRELL FOX

Creative Writer, Editor, Mediator and Leader Alumnus, Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing & Poetics

Brought to you by UW Continuum College

© 2024 University of Washington | Seattle, WA

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The 10 Best Creative Writing MFA Programs in the US

The talent is there. 

But the next generation of great American writers needs a collegial place to hone their craft. 

They need a place to explore the writer’s role in a wider community. 

They really need guidance about how and when to publish. 

All these things can be found in a solid Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree program. This degree offers access to mentors, to colleagues, and to a future in the writing world. 

A good MFA program gives new writers a precious few years to focus completely on their work, an ideal space away from the noise and pressure of the fast-paced modern world. 

We’ve found ten of the best ones, all of which provide the support, the creative stimulation, and the tranquility necessary to foster a mature writer.

We looked at graduate departments from all regions, public and private, all sizes, searching for the ten most inspiring Creative Writing MFA programs. 

Each of these ten institutions has assembled stellar faculties, developed student-focused paths of study, and provide robust support for writers accepted into their degree programs. 

To be considered for inclusion in this list, these MFA programs all must be fully-funded degrees, as recognized by Read The Workshop .

Creative Writing education has broadened and expanded over recent years, and no single method or plan fits for all students. 

Today, MFA programs across the country give budding short story writers and poets a variety of options for study. For future novelists, screenwriters – even viral bloggers – the search for the perfect setting for their next phase of development starts with these outstanding institutions, all of which have developed thoughtful and particular approaches to study.

So where will the next Salinger scribble his stories on the steps of the student center, or the next Angelou reading her poems in the local bookstore’s student-run poetry night? At one of these ten programs.

Here are 10 of the best creative writing MFA programs in the US.

University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)

Starting off the list is one of the oldest and most venerated Creative Writing programs in the country, the MFA at the University of Oregon. 

Longtime mentor, teacher, and award-winning poet Garrett Hongo directs the program, modeling its studio-based approach to one-on-one instruction in the English college system. 

Oregon’s MFA embraces its reputation for rigor. Besides attending workshops and tutorials, students take classes in more formal poetics and literature.  

A classic college town, Eugene provides an ideal backdrop for the writers’ community within Oregon’s MFA students and faculty.  

Tsunami Books , a local bookseller with national caché, hosts student-run readings featuring writers from the program. 

Graduates garner an impressive range of critical acclaim; Yale Younger Poet winner Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Cave Canem Prize winner and Guggenheim fellow Major Jackson, and PEN-Hemingway Award winner Chang-Rae Lee are noteworthy alumni. 

With its appealing setting and impressive reputation, Oregon’s MFA program attracts top writers as visiting faculty, including recent guests Elizabeth McCracken, David Mura, and Li-young Lee.

The individual approach defines the Oregon MFA experience; a key feature of the program’s first year is the customized reading list each MFA student creates with their faculty guide. 

Weekly meetings focus not only on the student’s writing, but also on the extended discovery of voice through directed reading. 

Accepting only ten new students a year—five in poetry and five in fiction— the University of Oregon’s MFA ensures a close-knit community with plenty of individual coaching and guidance.

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)

Cornell University’s MFA program takes the long view on life as a writer, incorporating practical editorial training and teaching experience into its two-year program.

Incoming MFA students choose their own faculty committee of at least two faculty members, providing consistent advice as they move through a mixture of workshop and literature classes. 

Students in the program’s first year benefit from editorial training as readers and editors for Epoch , the program’s prestigious literary journal.

Teaching experience grounds the Cornell program. MFA students design and teach writing-centered undergraduate seminars on a variety of topics, and they remain in Ithaca during the summer to teach in programs for undergraduates. 

Cornell even allows MFA graduates to stay on as lecturers at Cornell for a period of time while they are on the job search. Cornell also offers a joint MFA/Ph.D. program through the Creative Writing and English departments.

Endowments fund several acclaimed reading series, drawing internationally known authors to campus for workshops and work sessions with MFA students. 

Recent visiting readers include Salman Rushdie, Sandra Cisneros, Billy Collins, Margaret Atwood, Ada Limón, and others. 

Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)

Arizona State’s MFA in Creative Writing spans three years, giving students ample time to practice their craft, develop a voice, and begin to find a place in the post-graduation literary world. 

Coursework balances writing and literature classes equally, with courses in craft and one-on-one mentoring alongside courses in literature, theory, or even electives in topics like fine press printing, bookmaking, or publishing. 

While students follow a path in either poetry or fiction, they are encouraged to take courses across the genres.

Teaching is also a focus in Arizona State’s MFA program, with funding coming from teaching assistantships in the school’s English department. Other exciting teaching opportunities include teaching abroad in locations around the world, funded through grants and internships.

The Virginia C. Piper Center for Creative Writing, affiliated with the program, offers Arizona State MFA students professional development in formal and informal ways. 

The Distinguished Writers Series and Desert Nights, Rising Stars Conference bring world-class writers to campus, allowing students to interact with some of the greatest in the profession. Acclaimed writer and poet Alberto Ríos directs the Piper Center.

Arizona State transitions students to the world after graduation through internships with publishers like Four Way Books. 

Its commitment to the student experience and its history of producing acclaimed writers—recent examples include Tayari Jones (Oprah’s Book Club, 2018; Women’s Prize for Fiction, 2019), Venita Blackburn ( Prairie Schooner Book Prize, 2018), and Hugh Martin ( Iowa Review Jeff Sharlet Award for Veterans)—make Arizona State University’s MFA a consistent leader among degree programs.

University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)

The University of Texas at Austin’s MFA program, the Michener Center for Writers, maintains one of the most vibrant, exciting, active literary faculties of any MFA program.

Denis Johnson D.A. Powell, Geoff Dyer, Natasha Trethewey, Margot Livesey, Ben Fountain: the list of recent guest faculty boasts some of the biggest names in current literature.

This three-year program fully funds candidates without teaching fellowships or assistantships; the goal is for students to focus entirely on their writing. 

More genre tracks at the Michener Center mean students can choose two focus areas, a primary and secondary, from Fiction, Poetry, Screenwriting, and Playwriting.

The Michener Center for Writers plays a prominent role in contemporary writing of all kinds. 

The hip, student-edited Bat City Review accepts work of all genres, visual art, cross genres, collaborative, and experimental pieces.  

Recent events for illustrious alumni include New Yorker publications, an Oprah Book Club selection, a screenwriting prize, and a 2021 Pulitzer (for visiting faculty member Mitchell Jackson). 

In this program, students are right in the middle of all the action of contemporary American literature.

Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

The MFA in Creative Writing at Washington University in St. Louis is a program on the move: applicants have almost doubled here in the last five years. 

Maybe this sudden growth of interest comes from recent rising star alumni on the literary scene, like Paul Tran, Miranda Popkey, and National Book Award winner Justin Phillip Reed.

Or maybe it’s the high profile Washington University’s MFA program commands, with its rotating faculty post through the Hurst Visiting Professor program and its active distinguished reader series. 

Superstar figures like Alison Bechdel and George Saunders have recently held visiting professorships, maintaining an energetic atmosphere program-wide.

Washington University’s MFA program sustains a reputation for the quality of the mentorship experience. 

With only five new students in each genre annually, MFA candidates form close cohorts among their peers and enjoy attentive support and mentorship from an engaged and vigorous faculty. 

Three genre tracks are available to students: fiction, poetry, and the increasingly relevant and popular creative nonfiction.

Another attractive feature of this program: first-year students are fully funded, but not expected to take on a teaching role until their second year. 

A generous stipend, coupled with St. Louis’s low cost of living, gives MFA candidates at Washington University the space to develop in a low-stress but stimulating creative environment.

Indiana University (Bloomington, IN)

It’s one of the first and biggest choices students face when choosing an MFA program: two-year or three-year? 

Indiana University makes a compelling case for its three-year program, in which the third year of support allows students an extended period of time to focus on the thesis, usually a novel or book-length collection.

One of the older programs on the list, Indiana’s MFA dates back to 1948. 

Its past instructors and alumni read like the index to an American Literature textbook. 

How many places can you take classes in the same place Robert Frost once taught, not to mention the program that granted its first creative writing Master’s degree to David Wagoner? Even today, the program’s integrity and reputation draw faculty like Ross Gay and Kevin Young.

Indiana’s Creative Writing program houses two more literary institutions, the Indiana Review, and the Indiana University Writers’ Conference. 

Students make up the editorial staff of this lauded literary magazine, in some cases for course credit or a stipend. An MFA candidate serves each year as assistant director of the much-celebrated and highly attended conference . 

These two facets of Indiana’s program give graduate students access to visiting writers, professional experience, and a taste of the writing life beyond academia.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)

The University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program cultivates its students with a combination of workshop-driven course work and vigorous programming on and off-campus. Inventive new voices in fiction and poetry consistently emerge from this two-year program.

The campus hosts multiple readings, events, and contests, anchored by the Zell Visiting Writers Series. The Hopgood Awards offer annual prize money to Michigan creative writing students . 

The department cultivates relationships with organizations and events around Detroit, so whether it’s introducing writers at Literati bookstore or organizing writing retreats in conjunction with local arts organizations, MFA candidates find opportunities to cultivate a community role and public persona as a writer.

What happens after graduation tells the big story of this program. Michigan produces heavy hitters in the literary world, like Celeste Ng, Jesmyn Ward, Elizabeth Kostova, Nate Marshall, Paisley Rekdal, and Laura Kasischke. 

Their alumni place their works with venerable houses like Penguin and Harper Collins, longtime literary favorites Graywolf and Copper Canyon, and the new vanguard like McSweeney’s, Fence, and Ugly Duckling Presse.

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)

Structure combined with personal attention and mentorship characterizes the University of Minnesota’s Creative Writing MFA, starting with its unique program requirements. 

In addition to course work and a final thesis, Minnesota’s MFA candidates assemble a book list of personally significant works on literary craft, compose a long-form essay on their writing process, and defend their thesis works with reading in front of an audience.

Literary journal Great River Review and events like the First Book reading series and Mill City Reading series do their part to expand the student experience beyond the focus on the internal. 

The Edelstein-Keller Visiting Writer Series draws exceptional, culturally relevant writers like Chuck Klosterman and Claudia Rankine for readings and student conversations. 

Writer and retired University of Minnesota instructor Charles Baxter established the program’s Hunger Relief benefit , aiding Minnesota’s Second Harvest Heartland organization. 

Emblematic of the program’s vision of the writer in service to humanity, this annual contest and reading bring together distinguished writers, students, faculty, and community members in favor of a greater goal.

Brown University (Providence, RI)

One of the top institutions on any list, Brown University features an elegantly-constructed Literary Arts Program, with students choosing one workshop and one elective per semester. 

The electives can be taken from any department at Brown; especially popular choices include Studio Art and other coursework through the affiliated Rhode Island School of Design. The final semester consists of thesis construction under the supervision of the candidate’s faculty advisor.

Brown is the only MFA program to feature, in addition to poetry and fiction tracks, the Digital/Cross Disciplinary track . 

This track attracts multidisciplinary writers who need the support offered by Brown’s collaboration among music, visual art, computer science, theater and performance studies, and other departments. 

The interaction with the Rhode Island School of Design also allows those artists interested in new forms of media to explore and develop their practice, inventing new forms of art and communication.

Brown’s Literary Arts Program focuses on creating an atmosphere where students can refine their artistic visions, supported by like-minded faculty who provide the time and materials necessary to innovate. 

Not only has the program produced trailblazing writers like Percival Everett and Otessa Moshfegh, but works composed by alumni incorporating dance, music, media, and theater have been performed around the world, from the stage at Kennedy Center to National Public Radio.

University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)

When most people hear “MFA in Creative Writing,” it’s the Iowa Writers’ Workshop they imagine. 

The informal name of the University of Iowa’s Program in Creative Writing, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop was the first to offer an MFA, back in 1936. 

One of the first diplomas went to renowned writer Wallace Stegner, who later founded the MFA program at Stanford.

 It’s hard to argue with seventeen Pulitzer Prize winners and six U.S. Poets Laureate. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is the root system of the MFA tree.

The two-year program balances writing courses with coursework in other graduate departments at the university. In addition to the book-length thesis, a written exam is part of the student’s last semester.

Because the program represents the quintessential idea of a writing program, it attracts its faculty positions, reading series, events, and workshops the brightest lights of the literary world. 

The program’s flagship literary magazine, the Iowa Review , is a lofty goal for writers at all stages of their career. 

At the Writers’ Workshop, tracks include not only fiction, poetry, playwriting, and nonfiction, but also Spanish creative writing and literary translation. Their reading series in association with Prairie Lights bookstore streams online and is heard around the world.

Iowa’s program came into being in answer to the central question posed to each one of these schools: can writing be taught? 

The answer for a group of intrepid, creative souls in 1936 was, actually, “maybe not.” 

But they believed it could be cultivated; each one of these institutions proves it can be, in many ways, for those willing to commit the time and imagination.

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MFA Programs

MFA in Creative Writing

Request more information, on this page, more about the program, teaching opportunities, accelerated master's degree, mfa book prize, causeway lit, program overview.

If you have dreams of writing a book, Fairfield University's low-residency MFA in Creative Writing can help you make those dreams into reality.  In the past three years, our alumni  and students have published over 80 books, in addition to hundreds of articles, essays, stories, and poems. Our concentration in publishing/editing has helped students get internships and jobs at magazines and publishing houses alike. 

As a student in our program, you can pursue the study of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and screenwriting. Within these genres you can pursue concentrations  in publishing/editing, spiritual writing, or literary health and healing.

Students gather for our convenient semiannual residencies on beautiful Enders Island in Mystic, Connecticut. While highly rigorous, the program can be tailored to suit your individual writing goals, and allow you to learn from a faculty made of nationally recognized writers. The most promising writer in each residency applicant pool will be awarded the prestigious $5,000 MFA Fellowship .

Our alumni have been up to some great things since graduating, including the creation of AfterEnders , a website dedicated to fostering a lifelong community for the Fairfield University MFA in Creative Writing family. The site offers past, present and future students a unique blend of practical advice and creative inspiration based on the personal experience of MFA graduates or faculty members.

No matter which writing path you pursue, you’ll receive the support and guidance of our award-winning faculty during the one-on-one mentoring sessions, as well as many opportunities to collaborate during on-campus activities and online - illustrating our commitment to your well-being and success.

Carol Ann Davis

Professor of English

Director, Fairfield's MFA in Creative Writing

843-814-7159

Eva Magnuson

Certificate in Creative Writing

The MFA in Creative Writing program now offers a year-long intensive certificate program titled The Prologue. As an introduction to the MFA program, The Prologue is a 12 credit post-baccalaureate program that provides creative writers of all levels with two semesters of rigorous, graduate-level one-on-one mentorship to help them jumpstart or finish a book-length project.

The Residency

Fairfield University's MFA in Creative Writing Program involves exciting, bi-annual, nine-day residency periods at Enders Island, an inspirational retreat located off the coast of Mystic, Connecticut. Each residency brings together a uniquely talented group of faculty, guest writers, students, editors and agents that work, learn and have fun together while practicing and discussing the subtleties of writing and craft.

Students & Alumni

Fairfield's MFA students and alumni may be in their 20's or 80's or anywhere in between - but once they share a handful of residences at Enders Island, they are bonded for life. To help them stay connected, informed and inspired, we offer a variety of engaging resources.

Fairfield University's MFA faculty are experienced and published authors, who work closely with graduate students to provide academic advice and individualized attention that makes their experience as productive as it is rewarding.

Concentrations

MFA students may concentrate in one genre such as poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or screenwriting, or they may have a dual concentration in two of these genres. Since it is felt that working in more than one genre can benefit the writer’s development, students are encouraged to work outside their main genre for a workshop or even an entire semester.

Inspired Writer Series

Fairfield University’s Inspired Writer Series series was initiated as a companion to the MFA program and celebrates the program’s concentrations in fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry with a rotation of exemplary guest authors.

Diversity and Inclusive Excellence

Admission requirements for the MFA in Creative Writing are based on certain criteria and are outlined in detail for your convenience.

Teaching options for MFA graduates span a range of opportunities. The potential MFA students should be aware that due to changes in higher education, the full-time position teaching creative writing at a university has become a challenging position to obtain, often requiring a book publication as well as prior teaching experience. MFA graduates who are interested in teaching will be mentored to consider the full range of teaching options if this career fits their interests. MFA students are qualified to serve as adjunct instructors at the college level. Our graduates have also transitioned into careers teaching writing at the high school level as well as designing and staffing innovative community-based writing programs.

Students within the program can choose a pedagogy track for their experience within the MFA. This involves serving as a Teaching Assistant to a graduate level workshop during their final residency with one of the faculty mentors. In addition, students can invest time in other options within this track. Students who live within the Fairfield area may also apply to serve as a teaching assistant for an undergraduate creative writing course taught at Fairfield; during this experience they meet with the professor on a regular basis to discuss pedagogy and observations, and reflect upon their own teaching goals and philosophies. Many of the students who select the TA experience also complete a pedagogy project, which is an in-depth research experience on the teaching of writing that culminates in a 35-page academic paper, often weaving in evidence from the TA experience or a community-based educational project. These third-semester projects, which earn 9 credits toward the degree, are developed as part of the MFA curriculum and are discussed in depth with a program mentor. The completion of the pedagogy track will also be noted on the applicant's CV.

The MFA program in collaboration with First-Year Writing and the Fairfield Writing Center augment our MFA students' pedagogical backgrounds. Fairfield MFA students living in the Fairfield area have the opportunity to apply to serve as paid teaching assistants in the University Writing Center, an opportunity to develop expertise in the fields of teaching and editing.

Eligibility

• Full-time, matriculated students of ANY major and school may apply to the MFA in Creative Writing Program
• GPA of 3.2 or higher
• Completion of at least 96 credits prior to the start of fall senior year

Admission Requirements

• Online application available at fairfield.edu/applynow
• $60 admission fee (waived for current students)
• Fairfield University transcript (obtained by the Office of Graduate Admission)
• A letter of recommendation
• Personal statement
• Copy of resume
• Writing sample
• Current undergraduates  should speak to their academic advisor during their junior year to express interest in the accelerated program.
• These classes will be covered through full-time undergraduate tuition (with the exception of the MFA Winter Residency which is an additional tuition charge).
• Graduate classes cannot count towards fulfillment of the undergraduate degree.
• During their senior year, students should submit an official graduate application to gain admission to the full graduate program.

Other Admission Options

Learn about our new Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) option, where highly qualified students can receive up to one full semester credit for the work they have already written or published. Students receiving the PLA can finish the MFA in three semesters instead of four.

Fairfield University’s MFA program is one of the very few MFA programs in the country to offer its students the unique opportunity to win a professional book contract. The Fairfield Book Prize is awarded every two years to a Fairfield University MFA student or alumni who has entered an original and compelling book-length manuscript to its contest. The finalists are judged by a writer of national distinction, and the author of the winning manuscript is awarded a $1,000 prize, a standard royalty book contract, and publication by Woodhall Press , who will edit, publish, distribute, and market each prize-winning book.

Woodhall Press is an independent publisher founded by three Fairfield University MFA alumni, Colin Hosten, David LeGere, and Christopher Madden.

Fairfield MFA Book Prize Winner: Summer 2019

Brooke Adams Law

Brooke Adams Law’s Catchlight is a beautiful, moving novel of a family in transition, struggling with loss and disease and addiction, but also with new possibilities for redemption and renewal and love. Law steadily draws the reader in to the complex and closely observed emotional ties that bind brothers and sisters together, as well as those that keep them separate. She asks us whether we can find joy in the midst of grief, and whether we can make art out of pain, and then she shows us how that is done.

Guest Judge: Phil Klay Publisher: Woodhall Press

Previous Fairfield MFA Book Prize Winners

Susan Smith Daniels

2017 Winner

The Genuine Stories

Guest Judge: Meghan Daum

Lynne Heinzmann

2015 Winner

Frozen Voices

Guest Judge: Richard Hoffmann

Chris Belden

2013 Winner

The Floating Lady of Lake Towaba and Other Stories

Guest Judge: Dani Shapiro

Nick Knittel

2011 Winner

Good Things

Guest Judge: Charles Simic

Causeway Lit  is an online literary journal sponsored by Fairfield University's MFA in Creative Writing and a collaborative effort among graduate students in the program. Hands-on publishing opportunities exist on the Editorial, Production, and Marketing teams.

• Be exposed to the editing and publishing process
• Cultivate your editorial skills needed to improve your own creative writing
• Foster dialogue about the writing craft
• Learn about the marketing and production side of publishing
• Stay on top of trends in the publishing industry
• Expand your writing community beyond the program cohort
• Have hands-on experience to add to your resume
• Foster global citizenship and diversity through an interactive, engaged, international web audience
• Reading through submissions from emerging and seasoned writers from around the world
• Evaluating writing craft
• Recommending selections
• Contacting authors
• Suggesting edits
• Working closely with the contributors and each other to produce publishable material
• Wordpress and html training
• Posting, formatting, and proofreading poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, drama, and author bio pages
• Photo formatting and publishing
• Drafting and distributing news releases surrounding new issues and events for  Mason's Road
• Writing blog posts that stir up interest to a web audience
• Using Facebook and Twitter to publicize the journal
• Organizing reading events, poetry slams, and multi-genre activities in the local community
• Developing and distributing printed materials promoting the journal
• Working the AWP booth

Leadership positions include Editor-in-Chief and Genre Editor roles for the editorial side, and a Managing Editor position for the publishing side. An internship for the Managing Editor role is available as a third semester project through an application process.

Causeway Lit  is published twice a year, coinciding with our  Enders Island residencies  in July and December/January. For more information, visit  causewaylit.com .

Degree Questions

You will need to submit a portfolio of work, including a writing sample (20 pages for prose, 6-8 poems for poetry), two letters of recommendation, and a two-page personal statement. In addition, you will need to submit a transcript of your undergraduate work. However, the heaviest emphasis is placed on the creative writing sample.

No. Most of our students have families and careers. However, it is expected that you will commit 25 hours a week working on your writing.

You must apply to be admitted in one of three main genres - fiction, poetry, or nonfiction. For fiction, while the writer may work in any form, style, or sub-genre - including experimental, historical, scifi, or mystery - the work must have certain basic literary qualities (i.e., interesting and original language, well-developed characters, plots that avoid cliches). After admittance, if you would like to switch genres, you must submit a writing sample in a second genre to the director. However, for the creative thesis, most students will need to select one of the three genres. In special cases, you may do a combination thesis, but only if two faculty members agree to take on such a project.

Yes. In fact, we encourage it. Many seminars and panels actually have cross-genre themes.

Harriet Doerr published her first novel at the age of 73 and it went on to win the National Book Award. The great thing about writing is that you're never too old to write or to become trained as a writer. Fairfield's low-residency MFA is perfect for the "mature" student. Our student body will range in age from 23 to 75 and will include people from professions and experiences from all walks of life.

No. The only thing we ask is that you've made a serious commitment to writing and that you've been writing for some time. We look much more for commitment than formal training.

No. While some of our students will have published their work, most will not yet be published.

Residency and Faculty Questions

Yes. Since the residency is so important to a writer's development, you must attend each of the five residencies, as well as the fifth graduation residency where you will give a lecture and a public reading of your work.

If you select to stay with us on Enders Island, the MFA staff makes all arrangements, including lodging and meals. You will be responsible for transportation to and from the residency, though we do provide shuttle service from the train station on arrival in Mystic, CT.

At the end of each residency, you will be paired with one faculty mentor for the five-month independent work. Together you will work out a plan of study. Some correspond by e-mail, others by sending hard copy packets in the mail. Faculty will communicate their responses to your work by e-mail, regular mail, and phone.

Application Questions

You can find tuition information on our Tuition & Fees page .

In certain cases, depending on the student’s portfolio, the transfer of up to 15 MFA credits will be considered.

Absolutely. Our well-trained and highly published faculty will bring an entirely new dimension to your writing training.

You can, with the permission of the director, take one semester off due to personal or professional reasons.

No. We accept applications on a rolling basis.

Search Results

Creative Writing

A fully funded M.F.A. program that combines creative and scholarly work, undergraduate teaching, and professionalization opportunities.

Quick Links

• Enrolling in Undergraduate Intermediate Workshops
• Creative Writing Minor
• Writers Here and Now Event Series
• Jiménez-Porter Writers' House
• Stanley Plumly Lecture Series

Stanley Plumly Memorial Digital Archive

The M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing is nationally ranked and our graduates are the recipients of many distinguished awards and fellowships.

Follow us on Facebook .

Our Faculty

Lillian-yvonne bertram.

Associate Professor, English Director, MFA Program in Creative Writing, English

Professor, English

3103 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes

Associate Professor, English

3120 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Emily Mitchell

3122 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Rion Amilcar Scott

3234 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Joshua Weiner

3113 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Program Coordinator

Lindsay bernal.

Academic Coordinator, MFA Program in Creative Writing, English MFA Program in Creative Writing, English

2116E Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Emeritus Faculty

Michael collier.

Emeritus Professor, English

In Memoriam

Elizabeth arnold.

3101 Tawes Hall College Park MD, 20742

Founding Director

The late Distinguished University Professor and state Poet Laureate Stanley Plumly founded the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing at UMD in the late 1980s and served as its director for most of his teaching career at the university.

The Georgia Review hosts a memorial digital archive devoted to Plumly and his work, teaching, influence and life.

Program Requirements

The Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing offers concentrations in fiction and poetry and requires a creative thesis. The course requirements include both writing workshops and literature courses.  

Course Requirements

• Four writing workshops in your concentration (poetry or fiction: English 688 or ENGL 689, respectively).
• Four graduate (600- or 700-level) literature courses.
• At least one semester of Studies in Narrative Form (English 789), if your concentration is fiction, or Studies in Poetic Form (English 788), if your concentration is poetry.
• NOTE: Forms courses are repeatable and can be taken outside of your concentration for elective credit.
• One graduate-level (600-level or above) course outside the English Department, or one 400-level English course elective within the English Department.

Beginning in the second year, MFA students register for English 799 (thesis research) under the direction of a member of the creative writing faculty, write as a thesis a book-length manuscript of fiction or poetry.

Mentoring Credit

All MFA students are required to complete one credit of pedagogical or professional mentoring each semester: either ENGL878 or ENGL898.

A Letter from the M.F.A. Program Faculty

Dear Prospective Students,

Our MFA program is committed to social justice and antiracism. Our workshop process decenters whiteness and amplifies BIPOC voices, as we aim to create a space of equity for writing and collaboration and encourage extending creative practice into the world.  What is the writing that is happening now, that is looking to the future and creating a viable community?  The answer starts in the work of your imagination, your dedication to the craft, and your sense that this matters beyond the act of writing. Our commitment is to you. 

Each fall, we welcome three poets and three fiction writers into the MFA Program, a studio-based fine arts program devoted to the development and mentoring of the next generation of poets and fiction writers. 

Our attention is to your original writing and to you, the writer; our aim is to help you become the writer you envision for yourself.  As fully funded writers, selected by the program faculty from an applicant pool of over 200, you’ll spend two to three years taking workshops, literature courses, and creative forms courses, meeting one-on-one with our faculty, and gaining valuable experience teaching undergraduate workshops, academic writing, and literature courses.

Our varied individual teaching philosophies share the conviction that the hard work of drafting and revising original stories and poems is grounded in reading and studying exemplary works.  Literary history, innovative poetic and narrative form, and the experience of the writer all come into play through the shaping hand of art.

During the second and third years of the program, MFA students develop a thesis (a book-length collection of poetry or short fiction, a novel, or a hybrid project) under the direction of the MFA faculty. Students have the opportunity to work closely with each program faculty member in the genre of concentration during their time at UMD.

Completion of the thesis culminates in the occasion of a thesis defense with several faculty members, and a celebratory public reading, at which each student is introduced by their faculty mentor.

The MFA core curriculum includes practica in teaching creative writing (in the first semester) and finishing the thesis (in the last semester), plus a set of professionalization courses to prepare you for a career in creative writing.  Our program emphasizes one-on-one mentoring and personal attention to your development as a writer in the world. 

The Writers Here & Now reading series, co-sponsored and -curated by the Jiménez-Porter Writers’ House (UMD’s undergraduate residential college devoted to creative writing), brings writers of national and international prominence to the University of Maryland each year, both to read and meet with students in the graduate and undergraduate workshops. Recent visiting writers include Leslie Nneka Arimah, Jennifer Chang, Jos Charles,  Alexander Chee, Jennine Capó Crucet, Natalie Diaz, Danielle Evans, Ross Gay, Louise Glück, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Terrance Hayes, Mitchell S. Jackson, John Keene, Yiyun Li, Claudia Rankine, Cristina Rivera Garza, Evie Shockley, Ocean Vuong, and Javier Zamora.  We also invite program alumni to read in the series and visit with the MFAs.

Our program faculty and alumni include recipients of the following awards and honors: ●    Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize ●    Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship ●    Guggenheim Fellowship ●    Italo Calvino Prize ●    National Book Award ●    National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship ●    NAACP Image Award ●    National Jewish Book Award ●    National Poetry Series competition ●    New York Public Library Young Lions Prize ●    Rome Prize ●    Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award ●    Whiting Writers’ Award

They have received Stegner, Hodder, Radcliffe Institute, and Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center fellowships, and their work has been featured in the following publications: ●    The Atlantic ●    Best American Poetry ●    Harvard Review ●    Los Angeles Review of Books ●    The Nation ●    The New Republic ●    The New Yorker ●    New York Review of Books ●    New York Times ●    Paris Review ●    Poetry ●    Threepenny Review ●    Washington Post ●    Yale Review

Our alumni have started their own literary journals online and in print: ●    The Account ●    Asian American Literary Review ●    AzonaL ●    B O D Y ●    Leavings ●    Oversound ●    Smartish Pace

They have continued their formal studies in doctoral programs at Florida State University, the University of Houston, the University of Illinois–Chicago, the University of Missouri, the University of Utah, and other top programs. And they have taught in universities, colleges, and high schools around the country and abroad, serving communities and fostering the literary arts.

We thank you for your interest in our program.  We urge you to review the department website to get a further sense of whether or not the MFA at Maryland is right for you.  And we wish you the very best in your writing.

M.F.A. Application Instructions

Submit the complete application and all supporting materials by December 17, 2024 —for the Fall 2025 term. (We do not accept applications for the Spring term.) Please note that the system will close promptly at midnight, so you will be unable to edit your application past 11:59pm on December 17, 2024.

University of Maryland's Graduate Application Process

The University of Maryland’s Graduate School accepts applications through its application system . Before completing the application, applicants are asked to check the Admissions Requirements site for specific instructions.

As required by the Graduate School, all application materials are to be submitted electronically:

• Graduate Application
• Non-refundable application fee ($75) for each program to which an applicant applies.
• Unofficial transcripts of your entire college/university record (undergraduate and graduate), including records of any advanced work done at another institution. Electronic copies of these unofficial transcripts must be uploaded along with your online application. Official transcripts will be required after an applicant is admitted to the program.
• Three Letters of Recommendation . In your online application, please complete the information requested for your recommenders and ask them to submit their letters electronically. The strongest letters of recommendation are written by individuals who are familiar with your fiction or poetry and can speak about you as a writer.
• Statement of Purpose . The statement, which should not exceed 1000 words, should address your creative interests, relevant aspects of your educational experience, and your reasons for applying to our program.
• A single Creative Writing Sample in the genre in which you are applying: for fiction, 15 pages (double-spaced); for poetry, 10-15 pages (single-spaced). To ensure that your application package is processed accurately, you must specify your genre (fiction OR poetry) in the online application.

Note: We DO NOT require--or recommend--that applicants to the MFA Program in Creative Writing submit GRE scores.

The electronic submission of application materials helps expedite the review of an application. Completed applications are reviewed by a faculty admissions committee in each genre. The recommendations of the poetry and fiction committees are submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School, who will make the final admission decision. Students seeking to complete graduate work at the University of Maryland for degree purposes must be formally admitted to the Graduate School by the Dean.

Information for International Graduate Students

The University of Maryland is dedicated to maintaining a vibrant international graduate student community. The Office of International Students and Scholars Services (ISSS) is a valuable resource of information and assistance for prospective and current international students.  International applicants are encouraged to explore the services they offer, and contact them with related questions.

The University of Maryland Graduate School offers admission to international students based on academic information; it is not a guarantee of attendance.  Admitted international students will then receive instructions about obtaining the appropriate visa to study at the University of Maryland which will require submission of additional documents.  Please see the Graduate Admissions Process for International Applicants for more information.

Applicants are encouraged to direct any technical issues and questions related to the admissions process to the Graduate School ([email protected]; 301-405-3644)

Prospective M.F.A. Student FAQs

If, after reading this list, you still have unanswered questions, please contact us.

• Where do I apply on-line? You can apply now via the Graduate School's website .  
• When is the application deadline?  December 17, 2024 at 11:59 pm (EST)
• Does your program admit students for the Spring semester? No.
• What is the most important part of the application? The creative writing sample is the single most important element of a successful application to the MFA Program in Creative Writing. Of course, the Creative Writing faculty look closely at all of the other materials in the application file.
• Is it possible to meet with the Creative Writing faculty and/or staff to discuss the admissions process? Unfortunately, the faculty and/or staff do not have the time to meet with prospective applicants. We do, however, strongly encourage applicants who have been accepted into the program to visit during the spring semester to meet with faculty, staff, and current students and attend a graduate-level course.
• When are admissions decisions made? Admissions decisions are made in March.
• Should the fiction writing sample be one piece or several pieces? The fiction writing sample can be either a novel excerpt, a short story, or several short stories, as long as the writing sample does not exceed 15 double-spaced pages.
• Can I submit creative work in more than one genre and/or apply in more than one genre? No. All MFA applicants must apply within one genre (fiction or poetry) and submit work only within that chosen genre.
• Does Maryland offer an MFA in Creative Nonfiction? No. However, a workshop in Creative Nonfiction is offered occasionally, and MFA students are welcome to take it as an elective.
• Does the program offer a low-residency option? No.
• What kind of financial award packages does the program offer? Each year, the program accepts 6 applicants (3 fiction writers and 3 poets), who are fully funded by Teaching Assistantships for up to three years of graduate study. Our financial award packages include a stipend of about $26,000 per academic year and 60 credit hours of tuition remission (10 credit hours of tuition remission per semester) over three years of study. MFA students do not teach during their first year in the program. They teach two classes during their second year and four classes during the optional third year of study.
• How do I put myself in the running for funding? No separate application is required. Please see the question above.
• When are decisions made about program-awarded aid (fellowships and teaching assistantships) ?  In March. We fully fund all 6 applicants who we've accepted. Our offer letter details the program-awarded financial package.
• Where can I find information on tuition and fees? Student Financial Services and Cashiering provides a chart of tuition and fees for Graduate Students by credit hour and residency classification (resident and non-resident).
• Do MFA students ever attend the program part-time? No. Since our MFA students are fully funded  they must remain enrolled on a full-time basis (taking at least 6 credits per semester).
• What time do the MFA students take classes? Most graduate English classes are offered once a week, Monday-Thursday, either from 3:30-6pm or from 6:30-9pm. Fiction and poetry workshops are on Wednesdays from 3:30-6pm. Students must be enrolled continuously—unless they petition the Graduate School for a medical leave of absence or for a waiver of continuous registration and such petitions are approved.
• Does your program accept letters of recommendation via Interfolio? The Graduate School does not accept letters of recommendation via Interfolio. However, if Interfolio is your only option to submit your letters of recommendation, then please arrange for Interfolio to send your dossier electronically to the MFA Program Coordinator, Lindsay Bernal: [email protected] . (Lindsay will confirm the receipt of the dossier.) Please note that this alternative is a work-around: though the MFA faculty reviewers will be given access to your Interfolio dossier, your letters will continue to appear as missing from your online application.
• Does your program require applicants to submit GRE scores? No.
• Does your program waive the application fee? The Graduate School, not the Program, processes all application fee waiver requests. For more information about application fee waivers, including the eligibility guidelines, please visit the Graduate School’s website .

Featured Alumni

Poet shara mccallum mfa ’96 named 2023 guggenheim fellow.

The fellowship will support McCallum’s upcoming project, a collection of poems in response to Jamaican visual art.

Elizabeth Acevedo Has Written Her First Novel for Adults–and It’s Full of Magic

Creative Writing M.F.A. alum is profiled in TIME on her newest novel, Family Lore .

Jewish Folklore Goes Queer in Alum’s New Novel

The mystical and mundane meet in story inspired by Temim Fruchter's Eastern European family matriarchs.

Introducing the Stanley Plumly Memorial Digital Archive

"wave house" by professor elizabeth arnold wins poetry society of america william carlos williams award, english professor elizabeth arnold dies at 65, “bitter water opera" in briefly noted book reviews, professor lillian-yvonne bertram and hoa nguyen ’91 receive foundation for contemporary arts grants to artists, accepting submissions: sadat poetry and music for justice and peace competitions, umd creative writing at awp 2024, poetry nfts are having a moment, upcoming events, writers here and now: ama codjoe & hanna pylväinen, writers here and now: elizabeth arnold tribute reading, writers here and now: karen solie & latoya watkins.

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MFA in Creative Writing

The MFA in Creative Writing is a small, intensive one-year program that is completed over two to three terms. The program is designed to help students become better writers of original prose or poetry and to produce readers and critics of the highest quality. Our program also strives to help students improve as creative writing instructors.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Creative Writing MFA program, all students should be able to:

• If they are fiction writers: write and revise original fiction that has a compelling and original voice; interesting, well-developed characters; a clear narrative arc; and emotional resonance. It should reflect an awareness of previous and current achievement in fiction.
• If they are poets: write and revise original poetry that uses language, image, voice, and form in interesting ways that reflect an awareness of previous and current poetic achievement.
• Provide constructive, insightful, and helpful criticism of their peers’ original fiction or poetry.
• Closely read and critique literature with a particular eye for the way(s) in which their own creative work can benefit from the work of writers before them.
• Effectively teach creative writing and literature at the high school and/or college level.
• Demonstrate an understanding (through the world language requirement, including the option of taking Translation Seminar) of the resources available to their own creative work in the literatures of other countries.
• Through Global Fellowship travel, explore and reflect upon the cultural, historical, geographical, and linguistic landscapes of a country of their choice outside of the United States for up to three months.

Course Requirements

The MFA is an eight-course, 32-unit degree, including four workshops, four graduate literature courses, and completion of a world language requirement.

At least four of the courses taken must be workshops the genre in which the student is admitted (either fiction or poetry). The four remaining courses are normally graduate-level literature courses, some of which may be completed during the BU summer session(s). Students must receive a grade of at least B– in these courses.

It is possible to take a course (or courses) in a subject or discipline other than literature, provided that these are demonstrably essential to the student’s creative work, and show a strong emphasis in reading literary, as distinct from purely scholarly or academic, texts. Such courses are subject to the approval of the program director.

Language Requirement

Each student who has not previously completed at least two college courses of intermediate study in a non-English world language or is not already multilingual may fulfill the language requirement in one of the following ways:

• Satisfactory completion of CAS TL 540 (the Translation Seminar) (it should be noted that proficiency in a second language is listed as a prerequisite for the course) and its corequisite CAS TL 542 (Literary Translation). Students who choose this option may first wish to consult the Translation Seminar instructor; they must also choose a mentor from the language department for the source language from which they are working.
• Satisfactory completion of a BU course in a non-English world language, usually taught in that language (for example, CAS LF 350 Introduction to French Texts), or a 500-level reading course in a world language (texts and instruction usually in that language), subject to approval by the Creative Writing Program Director.
• Passing CAS LF 621 Reading French, CAS LG 621 Reading German, CAS LI 621 Reading Italian, or CAS LS 621 Reading Spanish. These reading knowledge-only courses are offered Pass/Fail for no academic units, and enrollment is limited.
• Passing a Translation Exam proctored by a Creative Writing Department administrator or faculty member and graded by an expert in the language being translated.

Completion of a substantial master’s thesis in fiction or poetry is required for all students. The thesis should consist of a minimum of 95 pages of prose or 35 pages of poetry and must be read and signed by two members of Boston University faculty.

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Creative Writing, MFA

Pen a future in writing..

Fiction. Poetry. Nonfiction. No matter your genre, if you want a career in the literary arts, this program provides the rigorous instruction and expert guidance you need to polish your craft and develop your voice as a professional writer.

As an MFA student, you will undergo intensive theoretical and practical training across genres – including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, editing and publishing. You will complete a thesis in the form of a collection of poetry, short stories, essays, a novel or memoir.

The MFA program features an intimate, supportive learning environment with an award-winning faculty of published writers. Students have opportunities to publish their works in national literary magazines and for mentorship from nationally recognized authors through the Distinguished Visiting Writers Program.

• Are an aspiring professional writer
• Want to teach creative writing at university or college level
• Have a strong background in creative writing
• Self-motivated and goal-oriented
• Eager to be challenged, technically and creatively
• Committed to developing your craft

Career Outcomes

• Environmental writer
• Magazine writer
• Writing conference/program director
• Public relations specialist
• Advertising professional
• Freelance business writer
• Arts manager

Available On-Campus

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Develop your talents as a professional performer, composer, conductor or studio teacher.

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Develop your talents as a professional performer, composer, music educator or studio teacher.

Music: Collaborative Piano

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Gain management, planning and budgeting skills for a leadership role in a public agency or nonprofit organization.

Interdisciplinary Studies

Integrate courses from two or more departments to create a customized plan of study that supports your unique interests and professional goals.

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Become an in-demand expert as you develop a deep understanding of the dynamics of crime and victimization.

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Theatre arts: lighting, music: piano pedagogy & performance studies.

Enrich your historical perspective through the in-depth study of the history of the United States, Europe or North American West.

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Creative Writing

Master of Fine Arts

Write toward a more just world.

Regis University’s Mile-High MFA in Creative Writing is a low-residency program that lets you stay at your job and close to your family while pushing you to make time for writing. You’ll leave the program with a polished thesis manuscript, along with an action plan for putting your writing into practice in the world.

The Mile-High MFA provides students one-on-one instruction in poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction. Along with theory, workshops, seminars and readings by accomplished authors, the MFA program’s unique focus combines a thorough instruction in the craft and business of writing with the practical application of writing as a career.

Jesuit Vision The Mile-High MFA celebrates the ways in which storytelling impacts our social and cultural lives, promotes social justice, and enacts change in the world. Our program is a place for writers from various backgrounds, genres, specializations, and aesthetics to come together and learn from one another in an open and supportive environment. We value writers who are socially engaged, who critically examine the assumptions and social privileges of discourse, and who seek to further a literature and community that respects and values diverse perspectives and authorships. Our program emphasizes anti-racist, liberatory, and humanist pedagogies, stemming from the Jesuit values central to our university.

• Fiction (YA, Speculative, Literary, Flash, Hybrid)
• CNF (memoir, essays, historical narratives)
• Poetry (any/all)

Not sure if this is the creative writing program for you? Compare the Mile-High MFA in Creative Writing with the Master of Arts with specializations in Creative Writing and Literature

Ready to apply? See how

Request More Information About This Degree

Program snapshot.

Program Format Online: Semester-based courses On Campus: Four 10-day residencies

Credits for Completion 78 credit hours

Tuition for the 24-25 Academic Year $721 per credit hour

See cost of attendance

View Full Degree Curriculum and Requirements

Degree Overview

The Mile-High MFA requires the successful completion of four 16-week writing semesters and five ten-day residencies. Students will begin with an Orientation at their first residency and end with an MFA Degree Ceremony in their final residency. Following each residency (except the last) will be a semester-long study in which students will work one-on-one with a faculty mentor. By their final residency, students will have written and revised 240-400 pages of prose (fiction, nonfiction) or 160-240 pages of poetry, hybrid or flash fiction, along with at least 16 book annotations, a thesis proposal, a book-length thesis, a critical preface to their thesis, a Writing in the World Action Plan and an MFA Portfolio.

Writing in the World

During the residencies, you will attend seminars on the real-life applications of writing. By your final residency, you’ll submit a Writing in the World Action Plan in which you describe how you will use your writing talents to contribute to your community, either in a professional capacity or through community outreach. Examples include running a writing workshop at a local prison or library, writing for a nonprofit, organizing a reading series or running an after-school “Teen Writers” workshop.

Career Preparedness

In addition to study in the major genres of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, our program offers a Graduate Workshop exploring the publishing world (market trends, working with agents, first book deals, query letters, and more).

Program Specializations

This specialization will require 12 additional semester hours, for a total of 67 credits. Dual-genre students will take three residency workshops and three semesters in their main genre (i.e. the genre in which they will write their MFA thesis) and two residency workshops and two semesters in their secondary genre.

Creative Writing Pedagogy

This specialization will require 12 additional semester hours, for a total of 67 credits. Creative Writing Pedagogy students will take four 3-credit ($555 per credit) 8-week online courses (Writing as Social Action; Creative Writing in the Literature Classroom; Literary Criticism and Theory; and Writing and Rhetoric of Nonfiction) via Regis University’s MA in Literature and Creative Writing.

BA/MFA Dual-Study Degree

The BA/MFA dual-study degree allows undergrads to earn a semester’s worth of credit towards their master’s degree while completing undergraduate credits, so students can earn a master’s degree in one year.

Prerequisites

• Three undergraduate creative writing courses with grades of B+ or better.
• Undergraduate Major or Minor in English or Writing, with 3.0 GPA or better in EN courses.

Program Features

• 12 undergraduate credits are applied to the MFA degree (6 for the first semester, 3 for the intervening 9-day residency, and 3 for the second semester) during the student’s senior year.
• Student completes the MFA degree in three semesters instead of four and attends four residencies instead of five.
• A five-page writing sample in the genre they will want to study in graduate school
• A one-page letter of interest; and
• A letter of recommendation from a Regis College English writing instructor

Residency Overview

Twice a year, in January and July, students will attend ten-day residencies, from Friday evening to the following Sunday afternoon, with an “Intermezzo” on Wednesdays. Residencies are inspiring, invigorating gatherings of like-minded writers that provide students with the opportunity to learn their craft, workshop their writing, attend readings by award-winning writers and immerse themselves in the writing life.

Residency Features

• Orientation for New Students
• Morning Genre Workshops
• Community Lunch (catered)
• Afternoon Craft Seminars, Panels, and/or Readings

Thesis Defenses

• Student/Faculty Semester Study Plan Meetings

MFA Degree Ceremony

Morning workshops.

The Mile-High residencies offer concentrated periods of time when students can hone their writing in small peer workshops orchestrated and facilitated by our faculty. The workshops will take place every morning and include some writing lessons/prompts by the faculty member, critiques of student work by faculty and peers, and group discussions of a variety of writing issues. Students will attend a minimum of six of the seven workshop classes to receive credit for their residency.

Afternoon Craft Seminars/Panels/Readings

In the afternoons, students will attend seminars on the theory and craft of writing, as well as panels on interpretations of canonical and contemporary works, on examples of “Writing in the World” projects (ways in which one may make use of their writing talents for the public good), on the teaching of writing, and on the business of writing and publishing, and readings by current students, alum, faculty, or visiting writers. Students will attend a minimum of ten craft seminars, panels, and/or readings to receive credit for the workshop portion of their residency.

A unique feature of the Mile-High MFA, our Wednesday “Intermezzo” is an opportunity for students to pull back from their busy activities and enjoy what our campus, the Mile-High City, and the Rocky Mountains have to offer, or to enjoy some quiet writing time. Revitalized by their Intermezzo experience, and with a strengthened sense of community among students across genres, students will dive into the second half of their residencies with renewed fervor and focus.

Every residency will feature public thesis defenses, when our graduating students will formally defend their theses.

At the end of each residency we will celebrate our graduating students in an MFA Degree Ceremony. All students, as well as family and friends of the graduates, are invited to attend. The ceremony includes a formal welcome from our Assistant Director; an excerpted reading of the best Critical Preface of the graduating class; excerpts from the graduates’ theses; and descriptions of the graduates’ Writing in the World Plans.

Residency Schedule Overview

• 9:30 a.m.-noon: Genre Workshops
• Noon-12:45 p.m.: Lunch (catered)
• 1-2:30 p.m.: Afternoon Craft Seminars, Readings, Visiting Guest Writers (across genres)
• 2:30-4:30 p.m.: Thesis Defenses (of graduating students)
• 4:30-5:30 p.m.: Individual Study Plan Meetings (for upcoming semester)
• Final Evening: MFA Degree Ceremony (reading & celebration of graduating student’s work)

How to Apply

To apply to the Mile-High MFA Creative Writing program, you will need:

• Completed online application
• Official degree-bearing bachelor's transcript(s) from a regionally accredited university
• Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher preferred
• 3.2 GPA or higher in English/writing classes preferred
• Demonstration of exceptional writing ability
• Personal interview (via phone)
• Two recommendation forms

The first step in the application process is to contact an admissions counselor, who can evaluate your prior learning credit, provide information regarding financial aid and tuition assistance and help you through the entire application process. A faculty phone or virtual interview may be required after review of your admissions application.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year: $721 per credit hour Total program credits:  78 Tuition is one part of the overall cost of attendance, which includes all expenses students may have, including basic living costs. For more information about tuition, fees and your estimated cost of attendance, visit our Cost of Attendance for Adult Undergraduates and Graduate Students page . Tuition and fees are subject to change.

A $350 nonrefundable enrollment deposit is required to secure your place in the program, and will be applied toward your tuition.

Curious about financial aid options? Regis offers a variety of scholarships, grants, and other programs to help you pay for school. Visit Financial Aid to learn more.

Important Dates

Admission is awarded on a rolling basis. However, application deadlines are as follows:

January term: Priority Deadline: October 15 Regular Deadline: November 15 Final/Deposit Deadline: December 1

July term: Priority Deadline: May 15 Final Deadline: June 15 Deposit Deadline: July 1

A Culture of Excellence

The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is offered by the Creative Writing Department within the English Department in Regis College.

• Learn More About the Department
• Explore Our Key Jesuit Values

Start Your Journey

• Contact Admissions
• Request More Info
• Start Your Application

What's the difference?

The purpose of your MFA in Creative Writing cover letter is to 1. introduce yourself to the program directors as a creative writer and scholar. 2.Tell us a bit about your creative writing background, 3. your previous experience working within a writing community (academic or otherwise), 4. your writing influences, 5. your writing goals, and 6. why you believe our low-residency program model will be a good fit for you. Directors are looking for the following in your overall application materials: 1. Preparedness for a graduate degree program: 2. Awareness of genre conventions (in creative writing sample) 3. Awareness of aesthetic tradition (writers your work is inspired by).

Submit a short story, chapter excerpt, personal essay, memoir excerpt, or series of poems (each poem on its own page) representative of the genre you are applying in. Genres are: Fiction (literary, speculative, young-adult), Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry.