Traditional Residency Creative Writing MFA Programs in the U.S.

Important changes to the Creative Writing MFA blog!

2007-05-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

The blog has been split in two.
Traditional programs can be found here at http://creativewritingmfa.blogspot.com.
Low-Residency programs can be found at http://lowresmfa.blogspot.com.

I will have all program information updated for the 2007-08 applications round by the end of July.

Anna

Introduction to the Database of American MFA Programs in Creative Writing

2006-08-24T19:44:00.000-07:00

This website contains a database of Creative Writing MFA programs across the country that includes the following information for each program:

-name of institution
-the genres of specialization
-faculty roster
-length of the program
-tuition
-materials required of applicants and departments to which they should be sent
-deadline for fall admission (and spring admission, if applicable)
-financial aid options offered by the program
-program website

What is an MFA in Creative Writing?

The MFA in Creative Writing is called the terminal degree because it is the highest degree that one can possess in the field. Coupled with a good publications record, it can land you a job teaching creative writing at a college/university.

What’s the difference between Traditional and Low-Residency MFA’s?

In a Traditional MFA program, you would spend two or three years at a college or university, taking creative writing courses that culminate in a thesis. In a Low-Residency program, which usually lasts 4 semesters, you spend 7 to 14 days on campus (depending on the program) at the beginning of each semester, participating in intensive workshops; then you go back to your regular work life for the rest of the semester and correspond online with a faculty advisor (and sometimes your peers as well, depending on the program). Low-Residency MFA’s are usually for working adults who can’t interrupt their careers to earn the degree.

What are the subject areas defined below?

1) Genres of focus: Usually a program only lets you concentrate in one genre. Poetry and Fiction are in virtually all the programs; genres such as Playwriting, Screenwriting and Creative Nonfiction are rarer, and are sometimes the focus of MFA programs that concentrate exclusively on one of those genres.

2) Faculty roster: When you apply to an MFA program, it is essential to find out whether it involves individuals that you want to be mentored by. In other words, read their stuff. There’s nothing worse than entering a program for its reputation only to find that you don’t care much for the work of anyone who teaches there—chances are, they won’t be your biggest fan either. Faculty rosters range from a couple of permanent instructors to a long list; I only include permanent faculty, as visiting faculty lists can deceive and disappoint, but it is always interesting to examine them, as it can give one an idea of the connections that can be established by participating in a certain program.

3) Program length and # of credits: Some websites will state that the program lasts for 2 or 3 years, while others will simply indicate a number of credits (usually ranging from 40 to 70). You then have a choice between taking 9, 12, or 15 credits per semester—at least 9 to be considered a full-time student, and 15 as the maximum number of credits without Dean’s approval. If you have a teaching assistantship position, you may do as little as 6 credits per semester to be considered full-time. In any event, it should still take 2 to 3 years. Note: the more credits you take per semester, the more you’re charged, but taking less credits per semester increases the number of semesters you have to pay for. Having an assistantship eases the financial burden, but also decreases the course load and increases the number of semesters. It’s all about calculating the best package.

4) Tuition costs: There really is no way one can generalize tuition costs--not when a school in Alaska or Alabama charges less than two or three thousand per semester, while Columbia, Brown, and Cornell charge $35K, $34K, and $33K per annum. Keep in mind that the fourth field is labeled “tuition costs” and not “cost of attendance.” This is how much it will cost to get educated. It does not cover room and board, transportation, course expenses, health insurance, miscellaneous university fees, or personal expenses.

Low-Residency programs are an exception; I include the cost of both tuition and accommodation because you’re pretty much expected to board with your fellow writers—like a summer camp, only sometimes it’ll be winter and in Vermont!—and certain Low-Residency programs don’t even separate the cost of tuition from room and board.

5) Application materials and application deadline. It is unusual for all materials to be sent to either the graduate school admissions office or the department itself. For most programs, some (such as the application form and fee) must be sent to the admissions office, whereas others (usually the personal statement and writing portfolio) must be sent directly to the department for faculty evaluation. GRE scores, transcripts, and recommendations (of which 3 are often required, sometimes 2) can swing either way.

Certain programs may require additional materials apart from these usual seven, such as a resume or vitae, a critical writing sample, or a list of works that the applicant has read; you may also encounter things such as an idiot’s checklist of materials (that you must mail in as verification that they’re all there!), an application for reducing out-of-state tuition to resident tuition, a declaration that one has been immunized against a particular disease, a form that has something to do with a military draft, etc.—which you will no doubt run across for certain programs, though I’ve left them out so as not to sound ridiculously anal.

For your convenience, I have specified not only what is required for each program but what goes where; however, please do double-check, as some schools provide information that is either hard to dredge up or contradictory. The same goes for application deadlines: when in doubt, I always went for the earliest deadline. Most programs will not accept applicants in the spring.

6) For the moment, we’ll skip over the second-to-last field, financial aid, and on to the last: the department website. The links that I have provided will take you directly to the main page of each program, and you can either fiddle with the URL or use Google to get the home page of the institution.

7) Now let’s get to financial aid: the last and most important issue. I challenge you to find a database that states, in such detail, what financial aid packages are offered by each program and how much they are worth in terms of stipend value and tuition remission. This does not include financial aid options that are available to all students at all institutions—such as the FAFSA, Pell Grants and Stafford Loans from the government, independent scholarships, and any awards that the school in question might offer to graduate students. The financial aid section is dedicated solely to what financial aid packages are offered by each particular MFA.

Some will bluntly state that they offer fellowships (not tied to employment) or assistantships (in which one teaches undergraduate courses or helps a professor with research) in exchange for tuition waivers and stipends of a specified value to all accepted students: these are the best packages, but the institutions that offer them tend to accept only 8 to 14 applicants per year. Others will be vaguer about the percentage of students who get financial aid, and the amount of financial aid itself. Some will offer nothing but the defaults applicable in every case; most Low-Residencies are like this (though it’s perfectly understandable, since people only spend a week to two on campus at the beginning of each semester, then go back to their full-time jobs). In what other database would you find such straightforward answers to the all-important question: “Which programs are generous and which aren’t?”

If you are interested in financial aid, you must do your own research on the application procedures and materials for the options that apply to you. In the case of financial aid offered by the program itself, you might need to submit your admissions application earlier, include additional materials, or file a separate fellowship and/or assistantship application under a separate deadline.

Best of luck to everyone. Questions and comments regarding this blog can be addressed to amendoza@brynmawr.edu. And of course, the dedication: Publius Kirchwey, Jane-Circe, Libby, E. + C., Meg, Eileen, Kemp, Maggie, and the rest of the Mawrtyr muses.

AVM ’08

Alabama

2006-08-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA TUSCALOOSA
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Screenwriting, Autobiography, Digital Media (students can “choose to balance the study and practice of two or more genres”; at least one project will be submitted as a thesis)
Faculty: Wendy Rawlings, Joel Brouwer, Kate Bernheimer, Michael Martone, Patti White, Robin Behn
Length: 3 years (plus optional 4th year for final project)
# of Credits: 48
Tuition: $2 315/sem. (residents); $6 332/sem. (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit Applicant Status Sheet, $25 application fee, GRE/MAT scores, 2 transcripts, and statement of purpose to the Graduate School; submit 3 recommendations and writing sample to Program in Creative Writing
Deadline: 15 Jan. for best chance of entry in the fall, though applications are reviewed throughout spring semester. No spring entry.
Financial Aid: All students qualify for Graduate Teaching Assistanships, which include a stipend of $10 K for 9 months and full tuition remission. Incoming students are eligible for Graduate Council Fellowships ($15 K plus tuition remission, with no teaching responsibilities); Dean’s Merit Assistanships (enhancements to GTA stipend, renewable for a total of 3 years); and Truman Capote Fellowships (4 such fellowships, 2 in prose and 2 in poetry, are offered to incoming MFA students each year—in-state students receive a $5 K bonus in the first year, and out-of state students receive a $6 K bonus).
Web address: http://www.as.ua.edu/english/08_cw

Alaska

2006-08-24T19:41:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS
Subject areas: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry
Faculty: Derick Burleson, Gerri Brightwell, David Crouse, Len Kamerling, Amber Flora Thomas
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 45
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $287 per credit (residents); $586 per credit (non-residents). Degree should cost approximately $13 K (residents); $26.5 K (non-residents).
Application materials: All materials sent to Office of Admissions: Graduate Application for Admission, $50 application fee, at least 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, statement of academic goals, writing sample, resume/vitae
Deadline: 15 Feb. (fall); 15 Sept. (spring)
Financial Aid: Graduate Teaching Assistantships awarded on basis of merit; stipend is $10 176 per academic year and carries waiver of tuition.
Web address: http://www.uaf.edu/english (click on “Degrees Offered,” followed by “Master of Fine Arts”)

Arizona

2006-08-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Playwriting
Faculty: Norman Dubie, Alberton Rios, Beckian Fritz Goldberg, T.R. Hummer, Jeannine Savard, Melissa Pritchard, T.M. McNally, Jewell Parker Rhodes, Guillermo Reyes
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: $6 227 (residents), $17 920 (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit Graduate Application, $50 application fee, and transcript to the Division of Graduate Studies; submit 3 recommendations, statement of career goals, writing sample, and resume/vitae to the Creative Writing Program; GRE/MAT not required but faculty will be interested in scores if they are submitted
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Students may be awarded Teaching Assistantships in the Department of English or the Department of Theatre; tuition is waived for all assistants working in a 50% position; health insurance is provided by ASU for 50% assistants. If awarded a 25% position, an assistant is considered an Arizona resident, and one half of in-state tution is waived.
Web address: http://www.asu.edu/clas/english/creativewriting

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction
Faculty: Jon Anderson, Steve Orlen, Jason Brown, Jonathan Penner, Alison Hawthorne Deming, C.E. Poverman, Elizabeth Evans, Boyer Rickel, Robert Houston, Aurelie Sheehan, Fenton Johnson, Richard Shelton, Jane Miller, Peter Wild
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 36
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Cost for a 9-credit semester is $2 772 (residents); $6 129 (non-residents)—assuming that 9 credits are taken per semester.
Application materials: Submit Graduate College Application, $50 application fee, Domicile Affidavit (domestic applicants) and Financial Guarantee (international applicants) to the Graduate College; submit copy of Graduate College Application (paper applicants only), 3 recommendations, transcript, personal statement, manuscript and manuscript cover sheet, and one-page resume to Department of English; GRE not required
Deadline: 1 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Graduate Tuition Scholarships (GTS’s; min. 3.2 GPA) are awarded to non-residents and waive the out-of-state portion of tuition fees. They are awarded as they become available and may be awarded for 1-2 semesters. Graduate Registration Scholarships (GRS’s; min. 3.5 GPA) are similar to the above, but waive all tuition fees for Arizona residents; they are awarded as they become available but are far fewer each year than GTS’s. GTS’s and GRS’s awarded first year are not automatically renewed for the second; the number of scholarships varies from semester to semester, and second year-students frequently do not receive GRS or GTS support.
Applications accepted: Approximately 15% of 350 applications per year
Web address: http://web.arizona.edu/~cwp

Arkansas

2006-08-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FAYETTEVILLE
Subject areas: Candidates may apply to do an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry or Fiction) or an MFA in Translation
Faculty: Geoffrey Brock, John DuVal, Ellen Gilchrist, Molly Giles, Donald Hays, Michael Heffernan, Davis McCombs
Length: most candidates take at least 3 years
# of credits: 60
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $280.65 per credit (residents); $663.94 (non-residents). In all, the degree should cost $17 K (residents); $40 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Send 3 copies of a writing sample, a cover letter, and a self-addressed stamped postcard (!!!) to the English Department. If this is approved, you will be asked to supply to the Office of Graduate and International Admissions: Graduate School Application for Admission, $40 application fee, GRE scores, and 2 transcripts; and to the department: 3 recommendations, statement of interest, and critical writing sample (for teaching assistantship).
Deadline: For fall: Jan. 16 (the writing sample and its attachments). If approved, submit whole application before Feb. 15 (especially if interested in a teaching assistantship); no spring admissions.
Financial Aid: Teaching assistantships carry a stipend of $8.8 K for students with a B.A., $9.2 K for students with an M.A. Teaching assistants receive a waiver of all tuition costs. Each year, students compete for 3 Walton Family Foundation Fellowships of $10 K and several Lily Peter Fellowships of $1 K; several other graduate fellowships worth $3 K per year for up to four years are also available, as well as “start-up” fellowships for first-year students.
Web address: http://www.uark.edu/depts/english/PCWT.html

California

2006-08-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Steve Heller, Tara Ison, Jenny Factor, Eloise Klein Healy
Length: 2 years for single-concentration students w/ 1 area of study; + another semester to earn a dual concentration (2 areas of study); + another semester if you want a Certificate in the Teaching of Creative Writing
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. $5.5-$9K per semester, depending on semester, and what you’re trying to earn.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Admissions Office: MFA in Creative Writing Application Form, $60 application fee, at least 2 recommendations, transcript, “admissions dialogue” (i.e. personal statement), writing sample, optional interview; GRE not mentioned
Deadline: Semesters do not begin in September and January as most college semesters do; deadlines are 15 Feb. for June entry, 15 Aug. for Dec. entry.
Financial Aid: Student and/or family must carry primary responsibility, as the school has not set up any particular assistantship or fellowship program to provide MFA students with funding. 75% of students receive some form of financial aid via government sources (grants, loans, work study opportunities) based on need. The university has a limited number of institutional grants and scholarships.
Web address: http://www.antiochla.edu/admissions_graduate_mfa.shtml

CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS (CCA)
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Scriptwriting, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Juvenal Acosta, Opal Palmer Adisa, Tom Barbash, Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Rebekah Bloyd, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Sydney Carson, Betsy Davids, Donna de la Perrière, Kathleen Fraser, Gloria Frym, Caroline Goodwin, Eliza Harding, Ryan Harty, Matthew Iribarne, Brent Jones, John Laskey, Joseph Lease, Anne N. Marino, Denise Newman, Julie Orringer, Holly Payne, Michelle Richmond, Zack Rogow, Judith Serin, Glori Simmons, Brian Teare, Ethan Watters, Ann Joslin Williams, Cooley Windsor, Ben Yalom
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition is $959 per unit; graduate students in this program are expected to take 15 units per semester, so the tuition per semester is $14 385.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Enrollment Services Office—Graduate Admissions: Graduate Application, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, personal essay, portfolio, resume/vitae, interview; GRE not mentioned
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students. Students can submit the FAFSA to CCA beginning in January; this automatically considers them for all forms of financial assistance. Awards are given on a rolling basis throughout the year in the order that applications are completed, so students should apply as early as possible to be given first consideration for CCA scholarships.
Web address: http://www.cca.edu/academics/mfawriting

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS (CAL ARTS)
Program name: MFA in Writing
Subject areas: This program has developed a special focus on hybrid genres, and aims to cross barriers between critical/creative writing and fiction/nonfiction. Students are exposed to “specific opportunities in the areas of cultural commentary, new fiction, experimental criticism, writing for performance, and writing for interactive media.”
Faculty: Steve Erickson, Tom Lutz, Janet Sarbanes, Mady Schutzman, Matias Viegener, Jon Wagner, Christine Wertheim
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $29.5 K
Application materials: Submit Application for Admission, $65 application fee, 2-3 recommendations, transcript, artist statement, and portfolio to Office of Admissions; GRE not mentioned
Deadline: For fall: 2 Feb. if interested in financial aid; 1 Mar. if interested only in admission. No spring admissions.
Financial Aid: All applicants are encouraged to apply for financial aid. Many students receive scholarship support. Teaching, editorial, and technological assistantships are available for qualified students.
Web address: http://www.calarts.edu/~writing

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FRESNO
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Corrinne Clegg Hales, Tim Skeen, Steve Yarbrough, Lillian Faderman, John Hales, Steven Church
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Residents pay $1757.50 per semester. Nonresidents pay the same plus $339 per unit; therefore, they pay $18 306 for all 54 units in the program plus $1757.50 for every semester they spend at the school.
Application materials: Submit Graduate Application for Admission, $55 application fee, GRE scores, and transcript to Office of University Admissions; submit MFA program application, 3 recommendations, personal statement, and writing sample to English Department
Deadline: 15 Feb. (fall); 15 Oct. (spring)
Financial Aid: Teaching and tutoring employment opportunities in English Department and Writing Center. Three scholarships (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction) awarded to selected entering students. Two scholarships awarded annually to talented Chicano/Chicana student writers. Limited number of out-of-state tuition waivers available to eligible students for 1st year.
Web address: http://csufresno.edu/gradstudies/narratives/creative-prog.htm

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Stephen Cooper, Elliot Fried, Suzanne Greenberg, Gerald Locklin, Charles Webb, Rafael Zepeda
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $3.5 K (residents), $3.5 K + $339 per unit (nonresidents). In this 60-unit program, non-residents can expect to pay an extra $20 340, or $5 085 per year.
Application materials: Submit departmental application form, writing sample, transcript, 2 recommendation letters (optional), and statement of purpose (optional) to Department of English; submit Graduate Admissions Application, $55 application fee, and transcript to Enrollment Services/Admissions; GRE not mentioned
Deadline: 15 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Student and/or family will most likely carry the most financial responsibility, as the school has not set up any particular assistantship or fellowship program to provide MFA students with funding. Grants and scholarships are available from the school and the government, and there are student loans/work opportunities.
Web address: http://www.csulb.edu/depts/english/mfa/index.html

CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Program emphasis on Fiction; secondary studies in Poetry, Screenwriting, Playwriting
Faculty: Mark Axelrod, James Blaylock, Elisabeth Cobb, Logan Esdale, Pamela Ezell, Tony Garcia, Brian Glaser, Lynda Hall, Jerry Hicks, Eileen Jankowski, Kent Lehnhof, Joanna Levin, Gerri McNenny, Martin Nakell, Kevin O’ Brien, Jan Osborn, Susan Paterno, Richard Ruppel, Matthew Schneider
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by cost of tuition for entire degree. Graduate studies in English cost $490 per credit; MFA in Creative Writing is 60 credits of course work. This would cost $29 400.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Office of Graduate Admission: Application for Admission, $50 application fee, 2 recommendations, GRE/MAT scores, transcript, statement of interest, portfolio, resume, letter of completion from undergraduate institution stating expected date of graduation
Deadline: For fall admission: 17 Apr. for students seeking scholarship consideration; 1 June for others; after that, applications will be considered on a space available basis. For spring admission: 15 Nov.
Financial Aid: The department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students. Chapman prefers FAFSA’s to be filed by 2 March. Federal loans and loans from independent organizations are available; contact Chapman for financial counseling.
Web address: http://www.chapman.edu/wcls/english/gradPrograms.asp

MILLS COLLEGE
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Children’s Literature
Faculty: Elmaz Abinader, Diane Cady, Yiyun Li, Ajuan Mance, Cornelia Nixon, Sarah Pollock, Stephen Ratcliffe, Kathryn Reiss, Kirsten Saxton, Ruth Saxton, Cynthia Scheinberg, Juliana Spahr, Thomas Strychacz
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $20.5 K
Application materials: Submit all materials to Office of Graduate Studies: Graduate Admission Application, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations, statement of purpose, manuscript, and English department’s supplemental application; transcript not mentioned unless in the case of transfers from another institution (weird—don’t they want to know your grades?!); GRE scores not mentioned
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); 1 Nov. (spring)
Financial Aid: The English Department offers a couple of fellowships/endowments of unspecified value. A small number of competitive assistantships are awarded (usually to second year graduate students who have had time to contribute to the department); the full graduate assistantship provides one-half tuition credit and a stipend of unspecified value.
Web address: http://www.mills.edu/academics/graduate/eng

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Literary Nonfiction, Screenwriting
Faculty: Luis Acebal, Janet Ann Baker, Colin Dickey, Lee Lovallo, Paul Majkut, Colin Marlaire, Vicki Martineau-Gillam, Scott McClintock. John Miller, Karen Beth Offitzer, Lisa Anna Palafox, Christin Photinos, Franz Potter, Jana Lynn Rivers-Norton, Sharon Masako Sakada
Length: Program is 10 courses at 4.5 units each for a total of 45 units. You are not allowed to take over 4 courses (18 units) per quarter without Dean’s approval. At top speed, you could do the degree in 3 quarters.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by cost of entire program. Degree is 10 courses and 45 units at $1 188 per course and $264 per unit; total tuition cost of $23 760.
Application materials: Submit Application for Admission (online version only, so I can’t check for a statement of purpose, but it may ask you to upload one at a certain point in the online form), $60 application fee, GRE/MAT scores for students with GPA below 2.5, and transcript to Admissions; submit portfolio to Karen Offitzer (koffitze@nu.edu) in the creative writing program; recommendations not mentioned (odd!)
Deadline: Applications are accepted year-round, and students begin classes any month of the year.
Financial Aid: The department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students. To get financial aid, file a FAFSA to receive a package that may consist of grant, loan, and/or on/off-campus employment.
Web address: http://www.nu.edu/Academics/Schools/COLS/ArtHum/Degrees/715-505.html

SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA
Subject areas: Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Marilyn Abildskov, Thomas Cooney, Graham Foust, Wesley Gibson, Rosemary Graham, Brenda Hillman, Carol Lashof, Christopher Sindt, Lysley Tenorio
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $14 K
Application materials: Submit all materials to MFA Program in Creative Writing: Program Application, $45 application fee, 2 recommendations, transcript (with proof of a Bachelor’s degree), statement of purpose, manuscript; GRE not mentioned
Deadline: 15 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: 11 scholarships ranging from $1 500 to $7 000. Teaching fellowships given to a select number of students: $2 000 stipend for the 1st year, $4 000 for the second. Teaching and publications internships also available.
Enrollment: 43
Web address: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/academics/adult_graduate/programs_by_school/school_of_liberal_arts/programs/mfa

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Sandra Alcosser, Sharon Bryan, Marilyn Chin, Glover Davis, Harold Jaffe, David Matlin, Joanne Meschery, Ilya Kaminsky
Length: Graduate students take a minimum of 9 units per semester; program is 54 units. At most, it would take 6 semesters or 3 years.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Residents pay $1551 per semester. Non-residents pay the same plus $339 per unit; in this 54-unit program, they would pay $18 306 for the units plus $1 551 per semester at the school.
Application materials: Submit Graduate Application, $55 application fee, GRE scores, and transcript to Graduate Admissions; submit 3 recommendations, statement of purpose, and writing sample to Department of English and Comparative Literature
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Graduate teaching associateships and graduate assistantships available to a limited number of qualified students; editorial internships also available. Stipends not specified.
Web address: http://mfa.sdsu.edu/ink.html

SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Playwriting
Faculty: Stacy Doris, Paul Hoover, Daniel J. Langton, Toni Mirosevich, Michelle Carter, Nona Caspers, Maxine Chernoff, Robert Gluck, Peter Orner, Roy Conboy
Length: Normal graduate student load of 9 to 12 units per semester; a graduate student could complete the 54-unit program in 4.5 (or 5) to 6 semesters.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Residents pay $1551 per semester. Non-residents pay the same plus $339 per unit; in this 54-unit program, they would pay $18 306 for the units plus $1 551 per semester at the school.
Application materials: Submit Application for Graduate Admission (with statement of purpose), $55 application fee, and transcript to Graduate Division Office; submit MFA Application, 2 recommendations, transcript, and manuscript to Creative Writing Department; GRE not required
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: A Fiction fellowship of $500 and a Poetry fellowship of $500. Second year students have the opportunity to apply to teach a beginning Creative Writing course; approximately 5-7 students each year are hired to teach one class a semester for 1 year.
Web address: http://www.sfsu.edu/~cwriting

SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction
Faculty: Mitch Berman, Samuel Maio, Cathleen Miller, Alan Soldofsky, John Engell, Persis Karim, Gabriele Rico, Scott Sublett, Kate Evans, Robert James
Length: Full-time graduate students fulfill 9 credit units per semester; in this 48-unit course, it would take 5.33 (or 6) semesters to fulfill all units.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Residents pay $1551 per semester. Non-residents pay the same plus $339 per unit; in this 48-unit program, they would pay $16 272 for the units plus $1 551 per semester at the school.
Application materials: Submit Graduate Application Form, $55 application fee, and transcript to Graduate Admissions & Program Evaluations Office; submit 3 recommendations, transcript, statement of purpose, and portfolio to English Department; GRE not required
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: One $500 scholarship. Second-year students have the opportunity to apply for teaching associate positions; positions entail a modest salary and a partial tuition waiver.
Web address: http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/MFA

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINE
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Michelle Latiolais, James McMichael, Geoffrey Woolf
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $6 K (resident), $21 K (non-resident)
Application materials: Submit Application for Graduate Admissions (online version only; includes statement of purpose) and $60 application fee to Office of Graduate Studies; submit 3 recommendations, transcript, autobiographical sketch, manuscript (plus manuscript cover sheet), and stamped and self-addressed postcard (oh my!) to Department of English and Comparative Literature; GRE not required
Deadline: 15 Dec. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: All students normally receive some form of financial aid, in addition to in-service training in University-level teaching. Renewable teaching assistantships offer salaries of over $14 K per academic year for one course per quarter, and entail partial payment of fees and health insurance. There are also regent’s fellowships (that go towards student fees and carry a stipend) and tuition fellowships (for out-of-state students), though amounts are unspecified.
Applications accepted per year: 4-6 in Poetry, 6 in Fiction
Web address: http://www.humanities.uci.edu/english/creativewriting/mfa.html

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT RIVERSIDE
Subject areas: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Playwriting, Screenwriting, Writing for Interactive Media
Faculty: Christopher Abani, Christopher Buckley, Juan Filipe Herrera, Michael Jayme, Dana Johnson, Judy Z. Kronenfeld, Derek McKown, Maurya Simon, Susan C. Straight, Charles Whitney, Andrew Winer, Dwight Yates
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $6 K (residents), $21 K (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit Graduate Application and $60 application fee to Graduate Division; submit 3 recommendations, transcript, statement of purpose, and portfolio to Department of Creative Writing; GRE not required, but will boost eligibility for candidates with GPA below 3.2
Deadline: For fall: 5 Jan. for students seeking fellowships; 1 May for students seeking admission only. No spring admissions
Financial Aid: Fellowships are awarded on the basis of information in the graduate application and supporting documentation. If you want a fellowship, you must apply early and submit a fellowship application in addition to submitting the materials required for admission. The school offers multi-year fellowship packages that may include stipends of up to $16 000, full/partial payment of tuition fees, and appointment as a teaching assistant (TA) or graduate student researcher (GSR). Other forms of financial aid include non-resident tuition grants, TA/GSR appointments outside of a fellowship, and need-based financial aid obtained by filing a FAFSA.
Web address: http://www.creativewriting.ucr.edu/

UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Subject areas: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry
Faculty: Andrew Altschul, Stephen Beachy, David Booth, Catherine Brady, Lewis Buzbee, Lowell Cohn, Norma Cole, Susan Gevirtz, Robert Halpern, Lisa Harper, Rusty Morrison, Nina L. Schuyler, Karl Soeholein, Jane Anne Staw, Susan Steinberg
Length: 2 years (but includes summers, i.e. 1st summer, fall semester, spring semester, 2nd summer, fall semester, spring semester, 3rd summer)
Tuition per year: Easier to go by cost of entire program. Tuition for the 2-year program is $31 845.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Office of Graduate Admission: Application for Graduate Admission, $55 application fee, 2 recommendations, transcript, statement of purpose, writing sample, resume; GRE not required
Deadline: 1 Feb. for program beginning late June. (There is only 1 admissions cycle per year.)
Financial Aid: A limited number of merit scholarships are available to students entering the program. These competitive awards go towards deferring the first semester’s tuition; you do not need to file a separate application. Otherwise you’re left with the FAFSA, federal/university loans and grants, on-campus employment, etc.
Web address: http://artsci.usfca.edu/graduate/writing/overview.html

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Subject areas: Novel, Film, TV, Drama, Poetry, Nonfiction
Faculty: James Ragan, Mel Shavelson, Marc Norman, Steve Mazur, Syd Field, Irvin Kershner, Andy Meyer, Sunmin Park, Gay Telese, Noel Riley Fitch, David Scott Milton, Donald Freed, S.L. Stebel, John Rechy, Judith Freeman, Janet Fitch, Aram Saroyan, Kanneth Turan, Steve Wasserman, Erich Van Lowe, Shelley Lowenkopf, Gina Nahai, Susan Compo, Gabrielle Pina, Shirley Thomas, Madelyn Cain, Tristine Rainer, Shelley Berman, Holly Prado-Northup, Jason Squire, Teresa O’Neill, Beata Pozniak, Marvin Bell
Length: Masters students must complete 8 units per semester to maintain full-time status; this 30-unit course should take 3.75 (or 4) semesters.
Tuition per year: $30.5 K
Application materials: Submit combined Graduate Admission and Financial Aid Application, $65 application fee, GRE scores, and transcript to USC Graduate Admissions; submit all of the aforementioned materials plus 3 recommendations, personal statement, and writing sample to Professional Writing Program
Deadline: Rolling admissions basis; students enter in spring, summer and fall semesters.
Financial Aid: Highly competitive graduate fellowships, scholarships and assistantships can result in an $18 K stipend and payment of tuition/student fees in full—or smaller stipends and partial tuition remission. Students can also file the FAFSA for a need-based financial package.
Web address: http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/mpw/admissions/overview.php

Colorado

2006-08-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Leslee Becker, John Calderazzo, Matthew Cooperman, Mary Crow, Judy Doenges, Deanna Ludwin, David Milofsky, Steven Schwartz, Sasha Steensen, William Tremblay
Length: 2-3 years (“students with Teaching Assistantships or Colorado Fellowships usually complete the MFA in three years; those who don't need financial aid can finish in two”)
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: $5 468 (resident); $16 862 (non-resident)
Application materials: Submit to Office of Admissions: Graduate School Electronic Application and $50 application fee; submit to Department of English: Graduate Teaching Assistantship Application, 3 or more recommendations, 2 transcripts, statement of purpose, writing sample; GRE not required unless undergraduate GPA is less than 3.0
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Graduate Teaching Assistantships, which provide tuition waivers and a stipend of a little over $1 K per month, are available on a competitive basis. Other English department positions provide a stipend or salary but not a tuition waiver: working on publications, managing computer labs, working part-time in the Writing Center, etc.
Web address: http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/English/programs/mfa.htm

NAROPA UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Prose, Poetry, Translation
Faculty: Keith Abbott, Junior Burke, Reed Bye, Indira Ganesan, Bobbie Louise Hawkins, Anselm Hollo, Bhanu Kapil, Andrew Schelling, Steven Taylor, Anne Waldman
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 49
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Cost is $685 per credit (institution is private, so this apparently goes for both residents and non-residents). In all, the 49-credit degree should cost $34 K.
Application materials: Submit to Office of Admissions: Graduate Application (online), $60 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, statement of interest, resume, supplemental essay (addresses a list of prescribed questions about your writing that the department has come up with), writing sample; interview recommended but not required—may be requested; GRE optional
Deadline: 15 Jan. (summer/fall entry); 15 Oct. (spring entry). Program consists of summers as well as fall/spring semesters; you do 2 summers, 2 falls, and 2 springs
Financial Aid: The department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students.
Web address: http://www.naropa.edu/academics/graduate/writingpoetics/mfa/index.cfm

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, Scriptwriting
Faculty: Julie Carr, Ruth Ellen Kocher, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Jeffrey DeShell, Marcia Douglas, Sidney Goldfarb, Elisabeth Sheffield, Elizabeth Robinson
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 45
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition for graduate students in the Department of English is $4 005 per semester (residents); $11 520 per semester (non-residents). In all, the degree should cost about $24 K (residents); $69 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit all materials to Department of English: Application for Graduate Admission, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations (4th optional), GRE scores, 2 transcripts, statement of purpose, writing sample
Deadline: 1 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: MFA students are eligible for appointment as teaching assistants, although the department does not have sufficient resources to offer all students assistantships every semester. The conditions of these assistantships (stipend value, tuition remission) are not specified. A limited number of one-time fellowships or tuition waiver grants are sometimes available.
Web address: http://www.colorado.edu/English/crw/mfa.htm

Washington, D.C.

2006-08-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Kyle Dargan, Andrew Holleran, E.J. Levy, Richard McCann, Kermit Moyer, Denise Orenstein, Elizabeth Poliner, Myra Sklarew, Henry Taylor
Length: If a student takes 12 hours per semester or takes courses during the summer, it’s possible to complete the program in 2 years. Most graduate students find this to be a rather heavy load and choose to complete their degrees in 5-6 semesters.
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: $17 802 (for full time graduate study at 9 credits per semester or 18 per year; cost per credit is $989)
Application materials: Submit Application for Graduate Admission, $50 application fee (online applicants) or $80 application fee (paper applicants), 2 recommendations, transcript, and statement of purpose to College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Admissions Office; submit writing sample to Department of Literature; GRE not required
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The Literature Department offers its strongest applicants fellowships that include full tuition and a “substantial” stipend (value not specified) for each of 2 years. It also offers some partial awards: half tuition remission and half stipend. Competition for merit scholarships is keen.
Web address: http://www.american.edu/cas/lit/mfa-lit.cfm

Florida

2006-08-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Screenplay
Faculty: John Dufresne, Denise Duhamel, Lynne Barrett, Dan Wakefield, Campbell McGrath, Les Standiford, James W. Hall
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $2 242.35 (residents); $6 778.98 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit Graduate Admissions Application, $30 application fee, GRE scores, and transcript to Graduate Admissions Office; submit 2 recommendations, personal statement and writing sample to the Creative Writing Program
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Program website states: “A limited number of tuition fee waivers, fellowships and teaching assistantships with a Fall/Spring semester stipend of approximately $9,500 are available.” It’s unclear whether tuition fee waivers are combined with fellowships/assistantships with a $9.5 K stipend, or if tuition waivers and fellowships/assistantships are separate awards; it’s also unclear whether the $9.5 K stipend is for each semester or for the whole academic year. (My guess is that a tuition waiver is combined with a fellowship/assistantship involving an annual stipend of $9.5 K; that seems like a more plausible amount than $9.5 K per semester, and tuition waivers always go with fellowships/assistantships that are furnished with stipends).
Web address: http://w3.fiu.edu/crwriting

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction; Playwriting and Screenwriting “coming soon”
Faculty: Julianna Baggott, Erin Belieu, R.M. Berry, Robert Olen Butler, Joann Gardner, Barbara Hamby, James Kimbrell, David Kirby, Diane Roberts, Bob Shacochis, Paul Shepherd, Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Virgil Suarez, David Vann, Mark Winegardner
Length: 45-unit degree. At 9-12 credits per semester, it should take 2 years.
# of credits: 45
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition per credit is $236.60 (residents); $868.00 (non-residents). In all, the degree should cost about $11 K (residents); $39 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Admissions Office: Graduate Admissions Application, $30 application fee, GRE scores, and 2 transcripts; submit to Department of English: department application form (with application for teaching assistantship), 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, personal statement, and writing sample
Deadline: For fall admissions: 1 Feb. for admission to program and/or consideration for teaching assistantships; 1 Jan. to be considered for all university fellowships. No spring admissions.
Financial Aid: The department appoints 30-35 new graduate assistants per year; teaching assistantships offer tuition waivers and annual stipends of $10 148 to $10 404.
Web address: http://www.english.fsu.edu/crw/index.html

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Debora Greger, Michael Hofmann, William Logan, Sidney Wade, Jill Ciment, David Leavitt, Padgett Powell, Mary Robison
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $284.44 (residents); $914.63 (non-residents). In all, the degree should cost about $14 K (residents); $44 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Department of English: Graduate Application, $30 application fee, 2 recommendations, GRE scores, 2 transcripts, writing sample with manuscript cover sheet; do not submit statement of purpose
Deadline: 16 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: All MFA students receive a full tuition waiver as well as a fellowship/teaching assistantship for the 2-year duration of the program. Stipend values are not specified for these packages. Each year several entering MFA students receive Alumni Fellowships worth $30 K with 2 semesters of teaching out of 4. One graduating student in fiction receives a $10 K Henfield Prize based on his/her thesis.
Applications per year: About 200
Applications accepted per year: 6-9 in each genre
Web address: http://www.english.ufl.edu/programs/grad/index.html

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: A. Manette Ansay, M. Evelina Galang, Lester Goran, Walter K. Lew, Maureen Seaton
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 36
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition per credit is $1 280; in all, the degree should cost about $46 K. (At this private institution, tuition is the same for both residents and non-residents.)
Application materials: Submit to UM Graduate School: Graduate Application (online), $50 application fee, GRE scores, and transcript; submit to Department of English: 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, and writing sample; personal statement not mentioned (may be included in Graduate Application)
Deadline: UM deadlines are rolling and depend on the program; the English Department website specifies MA and Ph.D. deadlines but not MFA deadlines. The MA/Ph.D. deadline is Feb. 1 for fall admission; but to be considered for University fellowships, which are awarded only in the Ph.D. program, the deadline is 1 Jan. Spring admissions are not mentioned. I’d assume all programs—MA, Ph.D., and MFA—admit applicants in the fall only, and to be safe I’d apply to the MFA program by Jan. 1.
Financial Aid: The department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students.
Enrollment: 22 MFA students
Web address: http://www.as.miami.edu/english/graduate/mfa.htm

Georgia

2006-08-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

GEORGIA COLLEGE AND STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction/Memoir, Scriptwriting
Faculty: Martin Lammon, Alice Friman, Allen Gee, Karen Salyer McElmurray, David Muschell, Laura Newbern
Length: some students take 3 years; others, usually those with an MA in English or other relevant degree, take 2 years
# of credits: 42 without an MA in English; 27 with an MA in English
Tuition per year: $4 084 (residents); $16 338 (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit Application for Graduate Admission, $25 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE/MAT scores, and 2 transcripts to Graduate Admissions; submit statement of purpose and writing sample to MFA program
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Graduate Assistantships/Teaching Fellowships provide for tuition remission and a stipend of $7.6 K per year. Currently, the MFA Program provides for 18 assistantships (total enrollment any given year is 22-24, with 10-12 students accepted per year).
Web address: http://al.gcsu.edu/mfa.htm

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: David Bottoms, Beth Gylys, John Holman, Sheri Joseph, Josh Russell, Leon Stokesbury
Length: At 12 credits per semester, it should take 4 semesters to complete the 48-unit program without an MA in English; students with an MA in English complete a different set of course requirements totaling 36 credits, so in that case it should take 3 semesters
# of credits: 48 without an MA in English; 36 with an MA in English
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester for students taking at least 12 credits per semester is $2 293 (residents); $9 169 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Office of Graduate Studies—College of Arts and Sciences: Application for Graduate Study, University Information Application, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, 2 transcripts, statement of educational and career goals, and critical writing sample (“must be a literary analysis that you wrote in a previous course… represents the quality of your critical thinking and writing skills”); submit to Department of English: writing sample (with 1-page biography, address and contact information)
Deadline: Feb. 15 (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Every year, an incoming graduate student is awarded the Paul Bowles Fellowship in fiction ($5 K for 1 academic year). Assistantships teaching writing to undergraduates are also available. All assistantships carry a full waiver of course tuition during the semester the student is assigned as an assistant; for a limited number of applicants who receive the highest ratings from the graduate admissions committee there are multi-year assistantship grants called Packages, though these are offered only for the fall semester of any given year. (Stipend value for assistantships/Packages not specified). Georgia State is the home of the literary magazines Five Points and GSU Review, and both of these journals provide students with experience in literary editing and magazine publication, though it is not stated whether this is paid experience.
Web address: http://workshop.gsu.edu

Idaho

2006-08-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Martin Corless-Smith, Janet Holmes, Brady Udall, Mitch Wieland
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: $5 240 (residents); $13 408 (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Admissions Office: Graduate Admissions Application, $55 application fee, GRE scores, transcript; submit to MFA Program Director: 3 recommendations, letter of intent, writing sample
Deadline: 15. Feb (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: 13 teaching assistantships are offered over a 3-year period, with the number of new assistantships available each fall varying from 2 to 6. Teaching assistantships carry stipends of $9.2 K per year plus a waiver of in-state or out-of-state tuition and fees. 2 graduate assistantships are also offered by the program—one to assist the director and one to assist in the production of The Idaho Review and cold-drill. Graduate assistantships carry a stipend of $7 659 per year plus a waiver of in-state or out-of-state tuition and fees. Assistantships are renewable for subsequent years given satisfactory performance.
Web address: http://www.boisestate.edu/english/mfa/index.html

UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Kim Barnes, Mary Clearman Blew, Ron McFarland, Daniel Orozco, Joy Passanante, Robert Wrigley
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 54
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Residents pay $2 475 per semester; non-residents pay resident tuition in addition to an extra $5 040 per semester, totaling $7 515 per semester.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Graduate Admissions Office: Application for Graduate Admission, $55 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, statement of purpose, writing sample, and vitae; no GRE required
Deadline: Materials submitted to the Graduate Admissions Office are forwarded to the English Department following review. The deadline for all materials to reach the English Department is 1 Feb., so you should begin the applications process to the Graduate Admissions Office no later than 1 Jan. (before the turn of the year is not too early) to ensure that materials are forwarded to the English Department on time. This is all for fall admissions; there are no spring admissions.
Financial Aid: The English Department has a number of Teaching Assistantships available for outstanding applicants. Stipends change from year to year, but current TA’s are paid approximately $11.6 K for the academic year, with a remission of all non-resident fees. To students who hope to teach, the department will sometimes award Grace V. Nixon Scholarships (usually $1 K to $1.5 K) which are renewable throughout the three-year course of study.
Web address: http://www.class.uidaho.edu/english/CW/mfaprogram.html

Illinois

2006-08-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

ART ISTUTUTE OF CHICAGO
Subject areas: According to the website, all genres: Poetry and Prose, “hybrid works,” “new forms”
Faculty: Calvin Forbes, Dan Beachy-Quick, Joanna Anos, Sherry Antonini, Carol Anshaw, Paul Ashley, Carol Becker, Mark Booth, Rosellen Brown, Anne Calcagno, Mary Cross, Janet Desaulneirs, Amy England, Eileen Favorite, Susannah Felts, Thea Goodman, Matthew Goulish, Joseph Grigely, Sarah Levine, Janny Magnus, James McManus, Michael K. Meyers, Judd Morrissey, Beth Nugent, Beau O’Reilly, Elise Paschen, Bin Ramke, Jill Riddell, David Robbins, Ellen Rothenberg, Brian Torrey Scott, Mary Margaret Sloan, Leila Wilson
Length: To achieve full-time status, a student must take 12 credits per semester; the program is 60 credits. At this rate, it should take 2.5 years.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by cost of entire program. The charge is $1 075 per credit hour for degree-seeking Master’s students; that’s $64.5 K for the whole 60 credits.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Admissions Office: Graduate Application, $65 application fee, recommendations (max. 3), transcript, statement of purpose, portfolio; GRE not required; candidate may be interviewed
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); 1 Nov. (spring)
Financial Aid: There are a number of TA positions offered by many departments (including the Writing Program) for students not in their first year. TA positions pay $11.80 per hour for assisting to teach a class, and $20.00 for teaching a class on one’s own. These positions do not provide students with tuition waivers. Candidates are evaluated based on the quality of their work and the relevance of their previous experience to the needs of the department. Other options include filing a FAFSA for a need-based financial aid package, taking out a loan, or finding another form of employment on campus.
Web address: http://www.artic.edu/saic/programs/degrees/graduate/mfaw.html

CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Playwriting, Screenwriting
Faculty: Brenda E. Aghahowa, Jacqueline Bryant, Kelly Ellis, Forrest E. Hazard, William L. Howard, Quraysh A. Lansana, Franklin E. Liebenow Jr., Haki Madhubuti, Christine Ohale, Sterling Plumpp, Nourou Yakoubou
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition per credit is $153 (residents); $305 (non-residents). In all, the 36-credit degree should cost $5.5 K (residents); $11 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit all materials to Division of Graduate Studies: Graduate School Application, $25 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, GRE scores, personal essay, writing sample
Deadline: 15 Mar. (fall); 15 Oct. (spring)
Financial Aid: The department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students.
Web address: http://www.csu.edu/english/mfaHBK.htm

COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO
Subject areas: Poetry
Faculty: Arielle Greenberg, Tony Trigilio, David Trinidad, Lisa Fishman
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Cost is $550 per credit; program is 40 credits and should cost about $22 K.
Application materials: Submit all materials to the Graduate Office: Graduate Application Form, $55 application fee, 2 recommendations, transcript, “self-assessment essay” (i.e. personal statement), portfolio, resume; GRE not required; interview may be required
Deadline: Feb. 1 (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: 6 students each year are awarded Assistant Instructor positions that can continue up to 2 years; salaries not specified. For new students, Departmental Merit Awards are small tuition awards that range from $500 to $3000 per year.
Web address: http://www.colum.edu/Academics/Graduate_Study/Poetry/index.php

ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Mary H. Ber, Regina Buccola, Joe Fedorko, Frank Rogaczewski, Francine Sanders, Lisa Stolley, Janet Wondra
Length: Program is 42 credits; average course load per semester is 12. The degree should take 2 years.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. $7 K for graduate students taking a 9-12 credit load during the semester. (This is a private institution, so there’s no difference between resident and non-resident tuition.)
Application materials: Submit all materials to Office of Admission: Graduate School Application, Creative Writing Supplemental Application, $25 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, statement of purpose, portfolio, resume of publications and readings (if applicable); GRE not required
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); 1 Nov. (spring)
Financial Aid: One graduate assistantship is available per year on a competitive basis through the Department of Literature and Languages. The Friends of American Writers, a Chicago literary organization, funds a scholarship awarded to an outstanding MFA candidate. One work-study position as assistant to the Coordinator of the Creative Writing Program is available. Apart from these few things, all that’s left are the usual options: filing a FAFSA for a need-based financial package, taking out a loan or finding a job.
Web address: http://www.roosevelt.edu/cas/lit/writing

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Rodney Jones, Judy Jordan, Allison Joseph, Beth Lordan, Michael Magnuson, Lucia Maria Perillo, Jon Tribble
Length: The normal course load per semester is 12 credits. Teaching assistants may have a reduced course load of 6-12 credits per semester; the maximum course load is 16 credits per semester. The degree is 48 credits, so it could be done in 2 years if you rush it without any assistantships, or it could take 3 years if you have to work as a teaching assistant.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. For a 12-credit semester, tuition is $3 K (residents) or $7.5 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit all materials to Department of English: Application for Admission to Graduate Study, departmental record form, $40 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores (required for fellowship applicants; strongly advised for others), transcript, statement of purpose, and writing sample
Deadline: 1 Feb. for applicants seeking assistantships/fellowships; these are assigned once a year. For applicants seeking admission only, deadline is 3 months before beginning of term (fall semester begins in the middle of August, spring semester in the middle of January).
Financial Aid: Almost all MA, MFA and Ph.D. students hold assistantships, which provide stipends of $10 K to $11.2 K for the academic year and full remission of tuition. A limited number of summer teaching positions are available. Furthermore, the university offers a number of competitive graduate fellowships and minority fellowships to full-time graduate students.
# of admitted students per year: 8-12
Web address: http://www.siu.edu/departments/english/index.html

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Steve Davenport, Philip Graham, LeAnne Howe, Tyehimba Jess, Brigit Kelly, Michael Madonick, Audrey Petty, Jodee Stanley, Alex Shakar, David Wright
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: $7 K (residents), $20 K (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit Application for Graduate Admission (Part 1) and $50 application fee to the Office of Admissions and Records; submit Application for Graduate Admission (Part 2), 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, statement of purpose, and writing sample to the English Department
Deadline: 1 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Most entering MFA students teach a section of freshman writing each semester. Other assignments in later years include administrative, advising and research assistantships, an internship at the University of Illinois Press, or tutoring in the Writers Workshop. All these positions carry approximately the same stipends. Each semester, teaching assistants are paid $8.4 K for a 1/3-time appointment and $16.7 K for a 2/3-time appointment. Assistants holding appointments ranging from 1/4- to 2/3-time are exempt from tuition, but may pay other fees. As for fellowships, most are reserved for first-year students and students writing dissertations: first-year fellowships carry stipends of $1 K to $17 K. Some are given in addition to the teaching stipend; others larger than $12 K free students from teaching.
# of entering students: 6 (2004), 6 (2005), 7 (2006)
Web address: http://www.english.uiuc.edu/mfa

Indiana

2006-08-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Tony Ardizzone, Catherine Bowman, Richard Cecil, Maurice Manning, John McCluskey Jr., Alyce Miller, Scott Russell Sanders, Maura Stanton, Samrat Upadhyay
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 60
Tuition per year: $5084 (residents); $13 206 (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit to IU Graduate School: Online Application to Graduate School, $50 application fee; submit to Creative Writing Program: 3 recommendations, GRE scores (GRE general test required; GRE subject test in English not required, but if you’ve taken it they’d like to see the results), transcript, personal statement, statement about the teaching of creative writing, writing sample
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall), no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Each student in the program receives financial aid, usually in the form of a graduate teaching assistantship, and all or nearly all incoming students are awarded supplemental fellowships, which reduce the teaching load during the first year. (2004-05 first-year teaching assistantships began at $12 150 and covered tuition and most fees—no later figures are available.) Aid is typically for 3 years, during which Associate Instructors (AI’s) teach 3 courses annually. Students have the opportunity to work with the Indiana Review and the summer Indiana University Writers Conference; summer teaching and stipends are also offered. More fellowship info: exceptional students are awarded $1 K to $10 K fellowships by the department (these are comprehensive rather than “per year”). University fellowships can go as high as $14 K to $17 K per year plus tuition, or $1.5 K per year plus reduction of tuition to resident rates.
Acceptances per year: 12 (6 fiction, 6 poetry)
Web address: http://www.indiana.edu/~mfawrite

PURDUE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Patricia Henley, Porter Shreve, Sharon Solwitz, Marianne Boruch, Mary Leader, Donald Platt, Bich Minh Nguyen
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 42
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $3 708 (residents); $11 112 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate School: Application for Admission, $55 application fee; submit to English Graduate Office: 3 recommendations, GRE scores, 2 transcripts, statement of purpose, critical writing sample (10-12 pages of an English course essay), creative writing sample accompanied by brief written statement answering these questions: “Whose work do you admire? What collection of poetry and/or works of fiction read in the last year have been important to you, and why?”
Deadline: Feb. 1 (fall); contact department for info/deadline concerning spring admissions (on rare occasions students are admitted in the spring, but teaching assistantships are only available for fall admission)
Financial Aid: Teaching Assistantships provide a stipend of approximately $12 K for 10 months and remission of tuition and most fees (including health insurance), plus merit raises. Most doctoral- and masters-level students receive them. A few merit fellowships provide tax-free stipends of more than $13 K for 12 months and remission of tuition and fees.
Total enrollment: Student-faculty ratio is 3.5-1; with 7 faculty members that’s an enrollment of 24.5, which means this is one of the small and selective programs
Web address: http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/CreativeWriting

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME
Subject areas: Prose (Fiction and Nonfiction), Poetry
Faculty: Cornelius Eady, Joyelle McSweeney, Orlando Menes, William O’Rourke, Valerie Sayers, Frances Sherwood, Steve Tomasula
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 36
Tuition per year: $35 040
Application materials: Submit all materials to the Graduate Admissions Office: Graduate School Application, $35 application fee (before Dec. 1) or $50 application fee (after Dec. 1), 3 recommendations (in duplicate)—for each recommendation include a waiver of access, GRE scores, 2 transcripts, 2 copies of a statement of intent, 1 copy of a writing sample
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall)—GRE’s taken no later than the Dec. test date; no spring admissions
Financial Aid: All accepted students receive full tuition waivers. Applicants are also considered for additional support including teaching and administrative assistantships and the Nicholas Sparks Fellowships, which involve: assistantships on the Notre Dame Review, summer internships at New York publishing houses and literary agencies, and the Sparks Prize (a competition open to 2nd-year students in which the prize is a year’s time to write).
# of entering students: 10 per year
Web address: http://www.nd.edu/~alcwp/program.html

Iowa

2006-08-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Degree called “MFA in Creative Writing and Environment”; genres include poetry, fiction, and nonfiction about the environment
Faculty: Jon Billman, Debra Marquart, Stephen Pett, Mary Swander, David Zimmerman
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 54
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $3 123 (residents); $8 453 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Office of Admission: Graduate College Application, $30 application fee, GRE scores, transcript; submit to English Department: photocopy of application form (or printed copy of online application), 3 recommendations, photocopy of GRE scores, cover letter/goals statement, writing sample, vita/resume
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The Pearl Hogrefe Fellowship is awarded to one student per year and currently carries a stipend of $1 250/month for 9 months and provides payment of university tuition and fees during the fellowship year.
Web address: http://engl.iastate.edu/programs/creative_writing/mfa

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA NONFICTION WRITING PROGRAM
Subject areas: Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: John D’Agata, Patricia Foster, David Hamilton, Robin Hemley, Susan Lohafer, Jeff Porter, Lia Purpura, Bonnie Sunstein
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: $7 158 (residents); $19 144 (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit to the Admissions Office: Application for Graduate Admission (online), $60 application fee, GRE scores (not required for admission to program, but applications with GRE scores may be more competitive for a greater range of financial assistance), and transcript. Submit to Department of English: 3 recommendations, another transcript, (University’s) Application for Graduate Awards; supplement to the Financial Aid Application (department-specific, supposed to accompany previous item), statement of purpose, writing sample.—Don’t submit a paper application, or you will have to send items A-C and G-J to the Admissions Office; items D-F to the department; and a copy of items A-C to the department. Yeesh.
Deadline: 1 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Teaching assistantships are the predominant form of financial aid in the Nonfiction Writing Program; a ¼-time or more appointment qualifies a TA for resident tuition. Research assistantships are periodically available with the Iowa Review or Philological Quarterly; a ¼-time or more RA qualifies for resident tuition. Iowa Arts Tuition Scholarships (IATS’s) are supplements offered to 6 students each year to cover 2 years of tuition expenses; these are usually the first 6 students for whom a TA or RA appointment is secured. Graduate Merit Fellowships (GMF’s) are 2-year awards from the Graduate College given to a small number of highly talented applicants from underrepresented populations; they cover tuition and fees and offer a stipend similar to that of a half-time TA. Usually a GMF-holder is offered an appointment as an RA or TA in the 2nd or 3rd year so that he or she may receive maximum support throughout the program. Stipend values are not specified.
Current Enrollment: 44
Web address: http://english.uiowa.edu/nonfiction

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA PLAYWRIGHTS’ WORKSHOP
Subject areas: Playwriting
Faculty: Art Borreca, Dare Clubb; one playwright-in-residence each semester, plus an annual series of guests who conduct short-term workshops
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 60
Tuition per year: $7 158 (residents); $19 144 (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit to Admissions Office: Application for Graduate Admission (online), $60 application fee, transcript; submit to Playwriting Admissions in the Department of Theater Arts: 3 recommendations, another transcript, personal statement, writing sample and resume; GRE not mentioned in the program website.—Don’t submit a paper application, or you will have to send items A-C and G-J to the Admissions Office; items D-F to the department; and a copy of items A-C to the department. Yeesh.
Deadline: 1 Mar. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students. (Though the undergrad FAQ page states that there’s a “full in-state tuition scholarship for one or two incoming students and quite a number of full and partial scholarships for continuing majors.”)
Web address: http://www.uiowa.edu/~theatre/programs/playwrighting/playwritinginfo.htm

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA WRITERS’ WORKSHOP
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Ethan Canin, Lan Samantha Chang, James Alan McPherson, Marilynne Robinson, James Galvin, Mark Levine, Cole Swensen, Dean Young
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: $7 158 (residents); $19 144 (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit to the Admissions Office: Application for Graduate Admission (online), $60 application fee, GRE scores (not required for admission to program, but applications with GRE scores may be more competitive for a greater range of financial assistance), and transcript. Submit to the Writers’ Workshop: 3 recommendations, GRE scores (yes, the department wants them too), another transcript, (University’s) Application for Graduate Awards; supplement to the Financial Aid Application (department-specific, supposed to accompany previous item), personal statement, manuscript with manuscript cover sheet.—Don’t submit a paper application, or you will have to send items A-C and G-J to the Admissions Office; items D-F to the department; and a copy of items A-C to the department. Yeesh.
Deadline: For fall: manuscripts should be sent between 1 Nov. and 3 Jan.; the deadline for the complete application is 3 Jan. No spring admissions.
Financial Aid: A note on my long summary of IWW financial aid: chances are you’ll get it, but it’s only partial and you will have to work for it. Here’s what it says on the program website. Normally, financial assistance is available for all students enrolled in the program. Any out-of-state student awarded at least a ¼-time appointment automatically has tuition reduced to the resident rate. Students awarded at least a ¼-time appointment will also receive tuition scholarships of $1 487.50 per semester from the Graduate College. In 2006-07, Graduate Teaching Assistantships carried the following stipends: $10 794 for 1/3-time assistants (2 sections per year); $16 191 for ½-time assistants (3 sections per year). A limited number of these appointments are available. In 2006-07, Graduate Research Assistantships were $7 993 for ¼-time assistants (10 hours/week). A number of 1- and 2-year non-teaching stipends are available to incoming students (in the form of 4 fellowships; their names are listed on the program website but their values are not specified; there are also 2 fellowships for program graduates whose values are not specified). Teaching-Writing Fellowships are awarded to 2nd-year students and carry a stipend of $16.5 K; they require the teaching of a creative writing course offered to undergraduates—very few of these fellowships are available.
Web address: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iww/about.htm

Kansas

2006-08-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Playwriting, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Douglas Atkins, William J. Harris, Kenneth Irby, Michael L. Johnson, Paul Stephen Lim, Tom Lorenz, Chester Sullivan, Deb Olin Unferth
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition per credit is $240.65 (residents); $575.05 (non-residents). In all, the degree should cost about $12 K (residents); $28 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate School: Degree-Seeking Application for Admission, $45 application fee (online applicants) or $55 application fee (paper applicants), transcript; submit to Department of English: Department of English Application Coversheet, 3 recommendations (with completed waiver forms), GRE scores, transcript, personal statement, 2 “examples” of creative writing, resume
Deadline: For fall: 31 Dec. if you want to be considered for fellowships and teaching assistantships; 1 Mar. if you want to be considered for the program without financial support. No spring admissions.
Financial Aid: Graduate Teaching Assistantships and internships with Cottonwood Literary Review, and/or the English Alternative Theater, are available (the conditions of these internships, such as stipend value and tuition remission, are not specified). A number of annual prizes and awards recognize outstanding achievements in teaching and creative writing.
Web address: http://www2.ku.edu/~englishmfa

WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Margaret Dawe, Albert Goldbarth, Jeanine Hathaway, W. Stephen Hathaway, Richard Spilman
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition per credit is $206.20 (residents); $556.10 (non-residents). The entire 48-credit degree should cost about $10 K (residents) or $27 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate School: Application for Graduate School Admission, $35 application fee, 2 transcripts. Submit to Department of English: creative writing sample; if interested in Teaching Assistantship, also submit TA application, 3 recommendations, and expository writing sample. Statement of purpose not mentioned on application form (I guess it’s not required). GRE apparently not required (on the application form instructions the GRE is under the “minimum admission requirements” for doctoral programs but not mentioned in the “minimum admission requirements” for master’s and specialist programs).
Deadline: 10 Feb. (fall); 1 Oct. (spring)
Financial Aid: All qualified students entering the program receive financial aid, usually in the form of a graduate teaching assistantship (stipend of $8.5 K in 2007-08) and a tuition waiver. 2nd- and 3rd- year students are eligible to apply for fellowships which eliminate the teaching load during the fellowship year, allowing the recipients time to devote to writing. Aid is typically for 3 years.
Web address: http://webs.wichita.edu/cwfwww

Louisiana

2006-08-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Prose, Poetry, Drama
Faculty: James Bennett, Rick Blackwood, Andrei Codrescu, Moira Crone, Femi Euba, Rodger Kamenetz, Mari Kornhauser, Bret Lott, Laura Mullen, David Madden, James Wilcox
Length: “Most students complete the program in 2 ½ to 3 years.”
# of credits: at least 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $2 235.50 (residents) or $6 385.50 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Office of Graduate Admissions: Application for Admission to Graduate Degree Program, $25 application fee, GRE scores, transcript. Submit to English Department: list of courses taken in English, transcript, writing sample. Personal statement and recommendations not mentioned.
Deadline: 25 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: LSU provides teaching and editorial assistantships. Teaching assistants are awarded full tuition waivers for the entire 3 years of the program, as well as “supplements and enhancements” (value not specified). The conditions of editorial assistantships with The Southern Review, The Exquisite Corpse, or the New Delta Review (in terms of stipend value and tuition remission) are not specified.
# of students in program: 25-30
Web address: http://english.lsu.edu/dept/programs/creative_writing

McNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Neil O’Boyle Connelly, Morri Creech
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 60
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $1 396 (residents) or $4 429 (non-residents). BUT: These rates are taken from what seems to be the only table concerning tuition and fees, and it isn’t specified whether it’s for graduate or undergraduate students.
Application materials: First, submit a 1-page letter and writing sample to Neil Connelly (fiction applicants) or Morri Creech (poetry applicants). If they decide they’re interested in you, you can apply to the university. Submit to Office of Admissions: Application for Graduate School Admission, $20 application fee, GRE scores, transcript; recommendations not mentioned.
Deadline: This isn’t specified for domestic students; for international students it’s 15 May (fall), 15 Oct. (spring). (Not specified, either, whether entry has to start in the fall or can also start in the spring.)
Financial Aid: “Virtually all of our MFA grad students work as Teaching Assistants, though the competition for these spots is quite fierce. If you are awarded a Teaching Assistantship, your tuition is waived and you receive a stipend of $9000, paid out every two weeks when class is session.” (This is a direct quote from the site: don’t assume you’ll get $9 K every two weeks; it probably is a yearly or semesterly sum.)
Web address: http://www.mfa.mcneese.edu/index.htm

UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP
Subject areas: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Playwriting, Screenwriting
Faculty: Rick Barton, Randolph Bates, Joseph Boyden, Carol Gelderman, John Gery, J. Stephen Hank, Bill Lavender, Phil Karnell, Joanna Brent Leake, Kay Murphy
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 45
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $1 592 (residents); $5 144 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Office of Graduate Admissions: Application for Admission, $40 application fee, GRE scores, transcript; submit to Director of Creative Writing Workshop: CWW Application for Admission, 3 recommendations, personal essay, writing sample (if applicable, also submit to the Director an Application for Graduate Assistantship—this will require its own statement of purpose).
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Assistantships are available in teaching Freshman Composition, tutoring in the Writing Center, and working with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. Stipends are $8.1 K for students who teach 3 courses per academic year, $5.4 K for those who teach 2 per academic year, and $4.9 K for students who work 12 hrs./wk. in non-teaching positions. All assistants also receive full tuition waivers. Any student who has held an assistantship for an academic year is entitled to a tuition waiver for the summer term as well. Assistantships are normally renewable for a 2nd year.
Web address: http://cola.uno.edu/cww

Maryland

2006-08-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Literary Nonfiction
Faculty: Kendra Kopelke, Jane D. Delury, Arthur J. Magida, Stephen H. Matanle, Amy Pointer, Bert P. Smith
Length: Program is 48 credits; students take 3, 6 or 9 credits per semester. If you take 9 credits per semester for 4 semesters, then 6 credits per semester for 2 semesters, it should take 3 years.
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition depends on the number of credits taken per semester: 3, 6, or 9. For residents, it’s $1 494, $2 988, and $4 482 respectively; for non-residents, $2 253, $4 506, and $6 759.
Application materials: Submit to Office of Graduate Admissions: Application for Graduate Admission, $30 application fee (online applicants) or $45 application fee (paper applicants), Maryland Residency Form, 2 recommendations, 2 transcripts, Statement of Personal Interest; GRE not required. Submit to School of Commuications Design: cover letter and portfolio.
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: There is a very limited number of graduate assistantships; most are in the Graphics Production Lab of the School of Communications Design. A few students work as assistants on literary publications. There are no teaching assistantships at this time. The conditions of assistantships (i.e. stipend/salary value, amount of tuition remission—if any) are not specified.
Web address: http://raven.ubalt.edu/programs/mfacreativewriting.html

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Elizabeth Arnold, Merle Collins, Stanley Plumly, Michael Collier, Howard Norman, Joshua Weiner
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 36
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $3 843 (residents); $8 289 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to U of M College Park / Enrollment Services Operations: Graduate Application (online), $60 application fee, transcript; GRE recommended but not required. Submit to Creative Writing Program: 3 recommendations, Statement of Experience and Goals, writing sample.
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The program offers Teaching Assistantships and Fellowships based on the merit of applications; the statement about GRE scores being “recommended but not required” means that they are required in order for the applicant to compete for these. The program offers several Teaching Assistantships to incoming Creative Writing graduate students; if a student did not receive one in his/her first year, he/she can compete for one in second year if positions are available.
Web address: http://www.english.umd.edu/programs/CreateWriting/index.html

Massachusetts

2006-08-24T19:14:00.000-07:00

EMERSON COLLEGE
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Daniel Tobin, Lisa Diercks, Douglas Whynott, Jonathan Aaron, Bill Beuttler, Bernard Brooks, Christine Casson, Yujin Chang, William Donoghue, David Emblidge, Robin Riley Fast, Maria Flook, Flora Gonzalez, DeWitt Henry, Richard Hoffman, Roy Kamada, William Knott, Maria Koundoura, Margot Livesey, Gian Lombardo, Megan Marshall, Carl Martin, Gail Mazur, Kimberly McLarin, William Orem, Pamela Painter, Jon Papernick, Elizabeth Parfitt, Frederick Reiken, Murray Schwartz, Jeffrey Seglin, John Skoyles, Tracy Strauss, Jessica Treadway, John Trimbur, Wendy Walters, Daniel Weaver, Mako Yoshikawa
Length: 2-3 years at 8-12 credits per semester
# of credits: 52
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Cost per credit is $840, in which case the entire degree would cost $43 680.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Office of Graduate Admission: Application for Graduate Admission, $60 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, statement of “short-term and long-term professional goals”, writing sample, resume
Deadline: 5 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: There are 10 scholarships and awards listed if you hold your cursor over “Financing Your Education” and click on “Scholarships and Awards,” but their values are not specified. Also, merit-based financial aid is awarded to a certain number of incoming graduate students in the form of Presidential Fellowships and Graduate Assistantships; these last 4 semesters. Presidential Fellowships are offered to a small number of incoming full-time graduate students who have demonstrated the highest degree of academic excellence; they are “distributed in $7 000 increment by semester” (whatever that means). Graduate Assistants receive $5 K per semester and are assigned to work 10 hours per week for 13 weeks per semester.
Web address: http://admission.emerson.edu/admission/graduate/academics/cw.cfm

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Chris Bachelder, Peter Gizzi, Noy Holland, Sabina Murray, Lisa Olstein, James Tate, Dara Wier
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 60
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition per credit is $110 (residents), $192.50 (New England regional), or $414 (non-residents). Thus, the entire degree should cost about $6.6 K (residents), $11.6 K (New England regional), or $25 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Admissions Office: Graduate School Application, $40 application fee, 2 recommendations, GRE scores (not required for admission but recommended should you want to be competitive for Graduate School Fellowships), 2 transcripts, residency statement, personal statement. Submit to the MFA Program for Poets and Writers: writing sample, application for Teaching Associateship (should include 2 recommendations [you can probably submit the same ones as mentioned above, but these should mention your ability to teach], vitae, critical writing sample).
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: A Writing Program Teaching Assistantship application will be sent to all accepted MFA applicants. A TA position provides a stipend (another page on the site states that this is $6 688/sem.) and a full tuition waiver. Additionally, there are other teaching positions available throughout the University.
Web address: http://www.umass.edu/english/eng/mfa/mfaIndex.html

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: John Fulton, Suji Kwock Kim, Askold Melnyzcuk, Joyce Peseroff, Lloyd Schwartz, Elizabeth Searle
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition is $5 081 (residents) or $10 334.50 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Office of Graduate Admissions: Graduate Admissions Application form, $40 application fee (residents) or $60 application fee (non-residents), 3 recommendations, GRE scores recommended but not required, transcript, “statement of interests and intent,” writing sample. Submit to English Department: duplicate copy of writing sample and personal statement.
Deadline: Jan. 15 (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: A limited number of teaching and administrative assistantships are available to first year students. After successfully completing course work and a teaching assistantship, students may teach their own class by qualifying for a limited number of teaching internships. (The values of these assistantships/internships, in terms of stipend value and tuition remission, are not specified.)
Web address: http://www.umb.edu/academics/cla/dept/english/graduate/mfa.html

Michigan

2006-08-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

NORTHERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction
Faculty: Beverly Matherne, Kate Myers Hanson, Austin Hummell, Ronald Johnson, Paul Lehmberg, John Smolens
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition per credit is $305 (residents); $452 (non-residents). In all, the degree should cost about $15 K (residents); $22 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to College of Graduate Studies: Application for Graduate Admission, $50 application fee, transcript. Submit to Department of English: “Application for Admission to the MFA Program in Creative Writing” OR “Application for English MFA Teaching Fellowships and Assistantships” (which one you send depends on whether you’re interested in financial aid), at least 3 recommendations (addressing teaching ability/potential), transcript, statement of professional purpose (if interested in financial aid, mention teaching qualifications), 3 copies of writing portfolio. GRE not required.
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Teaching fellowships and assistantships are available each academic year, as well as non-teaching assistantships. Almost all fellowships and assistantships are for teaching freshman composition. Stipends are $11 091 (for fellows, who teach 3 courses per year) to $7 394 (for assistants, who teach 2 courses per year); fellows and assistants get a tuition schlarship that covers up to 16 credits per academic year but no more than 10 per semester.
Web address: http://www.nmu.edu/mfa

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ANN ARBOR
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Michael Byers, Peter Ho Davies, Nicholas Delbanco, Lorna Goodison, Linda Gregerson, Ryan Harty, Laura Kasischke, Khaled Mattawa, Thylias Moss, Julie Orringer, Eileen Pollack
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 36
Tuition per year: $15 135 (residents); $30 281 (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit to Rackham Graduate School: Graduate School Application (online: includes statement of purpose and personal statement, which are not the same thing; also includes admissions conduct code questions), $60 application fee, and transcript. Submit to English Department: 3 recommendations, transcript, writing sample. GRE not required.
Deadline: 1 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: In the first year, accepted students get a full tuition waiver and stipend, either through a gradership or fellowship, of $15 K plus $3K in summer funding. Second year support includes a tuition waiver and stipend of at least $14 325, and health care benefits through a graduate instructorship teaching an undergraduate creative writing or composition course. There are also about 10 other fellowships and prizes awarded each year to MFA students and some are quite generous indeed (scanning them, I can see that some involve travel or funding for summer endeavors). To get a full description of each award, click on the link below, which will take you to the program website, then click on “Financial Aid” on the table of contents to your right.
Web address: http://www.lsa.umich.edu/english/grad/mfa

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Playwriting, Poetry
Faculty: J.D. Dolan, Stuart Dybek, Nancy Eimers, Steve Feffer, Jaimy Gordon, Arnold Johnston, Richard Katrovas, William Olsen
Length: Length isn’t specified, but full-time students take at least 6 credits per semester (TA award or no TA award). If you took 9 hours for the first 4 semesters and 6 hours for the last 2 semesters, it should take 3 years.
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $344.75 per credit (residents); $730.18 per credit (non-residents). The entire 48-credit program should cost about $16.5 K (residents) or $35 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Office of Admissions: Graduate College Application, $40 application fee, and transcript. Submit to Department of English: WMU Department of English Application Form (there’s one for each genre), 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, statement of purpose, and writing sample. If interested in TA-ship, submit to Department of English a TA essay detailing your teaching experience and teaching philosophy (if you have taught before); if you have not taught before, submit a sample of expository writing OR an essay “detailing a writing assignment you were asked to complete that was particularly effective.”
Deadline: 1 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Although Teaching Assistantships are mentioned in the WMU Department of English Application Forms, their values are not specified (in terms of stipend value and tuition remission). You might be able to work with the Prague Summer Program, Third Coast literary magazine, or New Issues Press—but you must do your own investigation by contacting these individually. There is no information on the actual conditions of any financial aid package, be it a TA-ship, fellowship, or editorship.
Web address: http://www.wmich.edu/english/dev
***Note: The program website is so bad—broken links here and there—and it doesn’t specify the length of time it’ll take to earn the degree, the application materials, or the application deadline… to find info on these you have to surf the pages of the institution itself.***

Minnesota

2006-08-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MANKATO
Subject areas: Poetry, Prose
Faculty: Candace Black, Suzanne Bunkers, Terry Davis, Diana Joseph, Richard Robbins, Roger Sheffer, Richard Terrill
Length: “Full-time students will typically complete their course work and theses in 2-3 years.”
# of credits: 48
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $275.50 per credit (residents) or $453.45 (non-residents). The entire 48-credit program should cost about $13 K (residents) or $22 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit all materials to the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English: Graduate Application, $40 application fee, 2 recommendations, 2 transcripts. statement of background/interest, writing sample, and verification of baccalaureate degree (to be sent upon completion). GRE not required. If relevant, also submit Graduate Assistantship Application (w/ cover letter and resume).
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall) to be considered for Teaching or other Graduate Assistantship; no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The Department of English employs about 30 teaching and research assistants at stipends of approximately $8 K over 2 semesters. Assistants receive full tuition remission for up to 18 credits over the academic year (2 semesters). All graduate assistants are required to enroll for a minimum of 6 credits per semester.
Web address: http://english.mnsu.edu/cw/cwmfa.htm

MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY MOOREHEAD
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Playwriting, Screenwriting, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Alan Davis, Kevin Carollo, John Early, Lin Enger, Elizabeth Severn, Thom Tammaro, Mark Vinz, Richard Zinober
Length: “Students usually complete the program in two-and-a-half to five years.”
# of credits: 42
Tuition per year: Non-residents began to be charged resident tuition beginning in 2002. Tuition is $278.82 per credit; in all the degree should cost about $12 K.
Application materials: Submit the following materials to the Graduate Admissions Office: Application for Admission to Graduate Study (online; may include personal statement), $20 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, writing sample. The program interviews applicants who earned their undergraduate degrees more than 10 years before the time of application. GRE not required. The following financial aid materials are submitted to the MFA Coordinator in the English Department: if interested in TA-ship, submit cover letter + expository writing sample and have 2 recommenders address teaching potential; if interested in GA-ship, submit letter of interest summarizing background/qualifications.
Deadline: 1 Mar. (fall); 1 Nov. (spring)
Financial Aid: You can apply for a Teaching Assistantship or Graduate Assistantship. TA’s get $10 K per academic year and 50% tuition remission (plus in-state tuition for out-of-state students). GA’s get $1.5 K a year—extra pocket money, but by no means a way of supporting oneself throughout the program.
Web address: http://www.mnstate.edu/finearts

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MINNEAPOLIS
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Literary Nonfiction
Faculty: Charles Baxter, Michael Dennis Browne, Maria Damon, M.J. Fitzgerald, Ray Gonzalez, Patricia Hampl, Deborah Keenan, Julie Schumacher, Madelon Sprengnether, David Treuer
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 45
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $4 651 (residents) or $8 200 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate School Admissions Office: Graduate Application (online), $55 application fee, transcript. Submit to English Graduate Office: cover sheet (to be downloaded), 3 recommendations, statement of purpose, writing sample (with description of your creative background), sheet indicating your GPA in English courses (to be downloaded), curriculum vitae (optional); if you wish to teach composition in your first year, also send a paragraph stating your interest and describing your teaching background. GRE not formally required but strongly recommended; fellowships are often tied to GRE scores and missing GRE scores may weaken your application—submit GRE results to the English Graduate Office.
Deadline: 20 Dec. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: “The English Department at the University of Minnesota is committed to providing financial support to MFA students for three full years. Support is given in the form of teaching assistantships and research or administrative fellowships. In addition, grants and fellowships from outside the department may be available, by nomination, to incoming students. All forms of support provide salary or stipend and include a full tuition waiver plus health benefits. Classroom appointments carry the added benefit of teaching training.” All this looks pretty good, only salary/stipend values are unspecified.
# of students admitted per year: 13-15 (4 or 5 per genre)
Web address: http://creativewriting.umn.edu

Mississippi

2006-08-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Beth Ann Fennelly, Ann Fisher-Wirth, Tom Franklin, David Galef, Barry Hannah, LeAnne Howe
Length: 3 years
# of credits: 42
Tuition per year: Program is 42 credits. You take 15 in your first year, 15 in your second, and 12 in your third. For residents, first and second years should cost about $2.8 K per semester; third year should cost about $2.3 K per semester. For non-residents, first and second years should cost about $5.8 K per semester; third year should cost about $5.3 K per semester.
Application materials: Submit to Graduate School Office of Admissions: Graduate Application, $25 application fee, GRE scores, transcript. Submit to Department of English: 3 recommendations, personal statement (should state whether student is interested in fellowship/assistantship, and indicate background, experience, and academic/career goals), writing sample.
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The Department of English offers a limited number of Grisham Fellowships in Creative Writing. Grisham Fellows receive $14 K per year plus tuition remission, renewable up to three years. There are also (1) renewable Graduate Instructorships that have annual stipends of $9 K; (2) Graduate School Honors Fellowships, which are supplemental awards given for high academic achievement that can be held in conjunction with a TA-ship or departmental fellowship, and (3) Tuition Scholarships (all full-time grad students, including teaching assistants, receiving assistantships or scholarships amounting to at least $1 125 per year are eligible to receive full tuition scholarships).
Web address: http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/mfa/index_large.htm

Missouri

2006-08-24T19:09:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI ST. LOUIS
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: John Dalton, Steven Schreiner, Howard Schwartz, Nan Sweet, Mary Troy, Eamonn Wall
Length: 2-3 years, depending on number of credits (6-12) taken per semester
# of credits: 39
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. For residents, tuition is $276.40 per credit. For non-residents, it’s $276.40 per credit plus a $437.30 nonresident fee per credit—that is, a total of $713.70 per credit. The entire 39-credit program should cost about $11 K (residents) or $28 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Admissions Office: UMSL Graduate School Application for Admission (online; includes Statement of Purpose for you to make brief comments about your degree objective; send a more in-depth statement of purpose to the Graduate Admissions Office with the rest of the application materials to be sent there), $35 application fee, 1-2 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, Application for Teaching Assistantship and/or Research Assistantship (if applicable). Recommendations and GRE scores are only required for applicants seeking an assistantship or financial aid; otherwise the recommendations are optional but strongly encouraged, and the GRE scores are not required. Submit to the MFA Director in the Department of English: writing sample; if interested in a TA-ship, also submit a scholarly or critical essay.
Deadline: 15 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: A small number of teaching assistantships offer a stipend of $9 K per year (2004-05 figures; I can’t find any more recent) plus full tuition remission, though TA’s must pay some fees. Also, 2nd/3rd- year students are eligible to apply for a GRA position working 20 hours per week with Natural Bridge literary magazine; this involves a $9 K annual stipend with tuition (though not fees) paid for 1-2 years—you are encouraged to volunteer for 1-2 semesters in your 1st year to have a good shot at this position, awarded to just one person. Advanced MFA students are eligible to team-teach creative writing workshops for UMSL’s continuing education program, and many students work as tutors in the writing lab and library.
Web address: http://www.umsl.edu/~mfa

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ST. LOUIS
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Mary Jo Bang, Kathryn Davis, Gerald Early, Wayne Fields, Marshall Klimasewiski, Carl Phillips, Kerri Webster, Kellie Wells
Length: 2 years
# of credits: 42
Tuition per year: $32 800
Application materials: Submit to Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: Graduate School Application (online; may include personal statement), $35 application fee, GRE scores. Submit to Department of English: 3 recommendations, transcript, writing sample (w/ cover sheet).
Deadline: 11 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: “Because of our selectivity and size, we are able to offer almost all our new students financial aid.” For the first year, awards consist of scholarships (which cover the cost of tuition for 2 semesters of 9 units each), plus University Fellowships (stipends of $16.5 K) to cover living expenses. For the second year, support will generally consist of a tuition scholarship, and, if the application is approved, an assistantship to teach sections of beginning Fiction or Poetry Writing with a stipend of $16.5 K.
Web address: http://artsci.wustl.edu/~english/writingprogram

Montana

2006-08-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
Subject areas: Prose, Poetry
Faculty: Judy Blunt, Kevin Canty, Debra Magpie Earling, Kate Gadbow, Patricia Goedicke, Joanna Klink, Deirdre McNamer, Greg Pape, Karen Volkman
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Tuition is (*sigh*) by credit. The program is 45 credits. If a resident took 12 for three semesters and 9 in her last semester, it would cost $3124.15 for each 12-credit semester and $2 464.10 for the 9-credit semester. If a non-resident did the same, it would cost $8347.75 for each 12-credit semester and $6 381.80 for the 9-credit semester. The resident would pay about $12 K in all; the non-resident, about $31.5 K.
Application materials: Submit all application materials to Department of English: Graduate School Application, $45 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, goal statement, writing sample, and list of publications (if applicable).
Deadline: 2 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: You can apply for a teaching assistantship, given to about half the people enrolled; they are offered on a yearly basis, and the program tries to renew them for students who have them already. Assistantships entail a waiver of tuition and most fees and a stipend of about $8 K per year. The annual Richard Hugo Memorial Scholarship (again, value not specified; but at least you don’t need to apply for it separately—the criteria will be your writing sample) goes to an accepted MFA student in poetry. Campus-wide awards are chosen by the University Graduate Council each spring from program nominations and entail $3 K (fellowship) and $2 K (scholarship). Several small prizes range from $300 to $900.
Enrollment: 40-50 students per year
Web address: http://www.umt.edu/english/creative_writing/default.htm

Nevada

2006-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Aliki Barnstone, Claudia Keelan, Wole Soyinka, Douglas Unger, Richard Wiley
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $1.5 K (resident) or $6 K (non-resident).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate College: Graduate College Application, $60 application fee, 2 recommendations, GRE scores, 2 transcripts, letter of application that includes a statement of purpose to the Graduate Committee, and manuscript
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Graduate assistantships are available on a competitive basis to students admitted to any graduate degree program. The 9-month stipend is $10 K for Master’s students, plus tuition and fee waivers. In addition, graduate assistants have the option of student health insurance, with a $1 K value. There are a few small scholarships of $500 each.
Web address: http://english.unlv.edu/mfaprog.htm

New Hampshire

2006-08-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
Subject areas: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry
Faculty: Charlotte Bacon, Margaret-Love Denman, Alex Parsons, Jane Harrigan, Susan Hertz, Andrew Merton, Lisa Miller, Mekeel McBride, Charles Simic
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: $8.5 K (resident), $21 K (non-resident), $13 K (regional)
Application materials: Submit all application materials to the Graduate School: Application for Admission to Graduate Study, $60 application fee, 3 recommendations, 2 transcripts, personal statement, writing sample; GRE not required
Deadline: Fall admissions: 15 Jan. for applicants seeking financial aid; 1 Jul. for admission without financial aid. Spring admissions: 15 Oct. for applicants seeking financial aid; 22 Nov. for admission without financial aid.
Financial Aid: The number of awards varies widely from semester to semester; the primary criterion is academic achievement. Teaching assistantships entail a $13.2 K annual stipend plus a full tuition waiver. Students can also apply for a tuition scholarship for the academic year (plus a very limited number of half-tuition scholarships are available) or an Elizabeth Jones Scholarship (varies in amount from year to year; no exact values specified).
Enrollment: 32 per year
Web address: http://www.unh.edu/english/MFA/index.htm

New Mexico

2006-08-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Sharon Oard Warner, Joy Harjo, Lisa D. Chávez, Julie Shigekuni, Diane Thiel, Daniel Mueller, Gregory Martin, Jack Trujillo, Marisa P. Clark
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Program is 55 credits. Cost per credit is $188.20; cost of entire program should be about $10.5 K.
Application materials: Submit Graduate Application for Admission, $50 application fee, and transcript to Admissions Office. Submit minimum of 3 recommendations, statement of intent, and writing sample to English Department. No GRE required.
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Depending on academic level and experience, teaching assistants earn a stipend of about $1 150 to $1 250 per month and receive a tuition remission of up to 12 credits per semester. Teaching assistantships also include graduate health insurance. The department also offers graduate assistantships and will soon offer one fellowship (values not specified).
Enrollment: 30-40 (about 10 incoming students per year)
Web address: http://www.unm.edu/~English/CreativeWriting/index.htm

New York

2006-08-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

ADELPHI UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Playwriting
Faculty: Judith Baumel, Martha Cooley, Imraan Coovadia, Anton Dudley, Kermit Frazier, Igor Webb
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $690 per credit and the degree is 37 credits. In all, it should cost about $25.5 K.
Application materials: Submit to Office of Graduate Admissions: Graduate Application, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, personal statement, and manuscript; no GRE required
Deadline: “Modified” rolling admissions process. Applications are read beginning mid-January, and the majority of students are admitted in February. After that, admission is based on available space.
Financial Aid: All applicants are eligible and automatically considered for one of six half-tuition remissions. 2nd-year students and students entering with a previous MA degree are eligible for Graduate Teaching Fellowships in the Department of English. There are limited slots for other work-study positions (e.g. Writing Center, Learning Center). The stipends/salaries for these positions are not specified.
Enrollment: Approx. 12 students per genre
Web address: http://academics.adelphi.edu/artsci/creativewriting

BROOKLYN COLLEGE
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Playwriting
Faculty: Julie Agoos, L.S. Asekoff, Maribeth Batcha, Jonathan Baumbach, Amy Bloom, Susan Choi, Erin Courtney, Michael Cunningham, Stacey D’Erasmo, Carey Harrison, Jonathan Henkin, Lisa Jarnot, Sheila Kohler, Ernesto Mestre, Mary Morris, Meera Nair, Jenny Offill, Richard Pearse, Sapphire, Alison Solomon, Martha Southgate, Mac Wellman, Colson Whitehead
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $270 per credit (residents) or $500 per credit (non-residents). Degree is 36 credits; cost of entire program is about $9 720 (residents) or $18 000 (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit Graduate Application, $125 application fee, 2 recommendations, transcript and personal statement (not required, but recommended for Fiction applicants) to Office of Admissions; submit manuscript to Department of English; GRE not required; interview may be required
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); 1 Nov. (spring)
Financial Aid: A very limited number of one-course adjunct and graduate teaching assistantships may be available for applicants with classroom teaching qualifications. Otherwise, you’re left with the FAFSA, institutional scholarships, federal grants/loans, etc.
Web address: http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/graduate/mfa/geninfo.htm

CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Salar Abdoh, Linsey Abrams, Mark Jay Mirsky, Emily Raboteau, Marilyn Hacker, Wayne Koestenbaum, David Unger
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition is $3 200 per semester for residents, or $12 800 in all. For non-residents, tuition is by credit at $500 per credit; the degree is 42 credits and should cost $21 000 in all.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Office of Graduate Admissions: Graduate Admissions Application, $125 application fee, 2 recommendations, transcript (sent directly from institution), personal statement, writing sample, resume; GRE not mentioned
Deadline: 1 May (fall); 1 Dec. (spring)—applications received before deadline may be reviewed for early admissions; applications received after the deadline will be reviewed for consideration for any available places
Financial Aid: The English Department offers teaching assistantships to qualified 2nd-year MFA students, but the conditions of these positions (stipend value, tuition remission) are not specified. The Poetry Outreach Center of the City College of New York affords paid opportunities for graduate students to conduct poetry workshops within the city’s public school system. The department also “grants dozens of generously funded writing awards and prizes to graduate students in creative writing and literature,” but the exact values of these awards are not specified.
Web address: http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/english (click on “Programs,” then “Graduate,” then “Creative Writing”)

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry
Faculty: Lucie Brock-Broido, Nicholas Christopher, Rebecca Curtis, Timothy Donnelly, Lis Harris, Richard Howard, Michael Janeway, Margo Jefferson, Binnie Kirshenbaum, Sam Lipsyte, Richard Locke, Jaime Manrique, Ben Marcus, Patty O’Toole, David Plante, Michael Scammell, Leslie Sharpe, Leslie Woodward, Alan Ziegler
Length: 2 years minimum; may take additional 1-6 semesters to complete thesis
Tuition per year: $35 K
Application materials: Submit all materials to Admissions Office: Statistical Information and Application Form, $100 application fee (online applicants) or $120 application fee (paper applicants), 3 recommendations, transcript, personal statement, literary response essay to work of literature written and published in the last 10 years, manuscript; GRE not required
Deadline: 2 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Entering students are considered for Divisional fellowships based on merit; these are awarded for both years and are applied towards tuition. During the second year, students are eligible for research assistantships and teaching assistantships. Teaching assistantships are awarded to a small number of students at the end of their first year; they entail a tuition exemption that goes up to 11.5 credits per term and a small cash stipend. They begin in the student’s second year and continue into a 3rd year. (Yes, the program can be finished in 2 years, but if you do a teaching assistantship, you probably have to cut back on coursework, resulting in a 3rd year.)
# of applicants per year: 650
# of students admitted: 70
Web address: http://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/art/app/arts/writing/index.jsp

CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Lamar Herrin, Alice Fulton, Molly Hite, Phyllis Janowitz, Alison Lurie, Dan McCall, Kenneth McClane, Maureen McCoy, Robert Morgan, Edgar Rosenberg, Stephanie Vaughn, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Helena Maria Viramontes
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $33 K
Application materials: Submit to Graduate School: Graduate School Application, $70 application fee (online applicants) or $80 application fee (paper applicants); submit to Department of English: 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, statement of purpose, writing sample
Deadline: Fall admissions: 15 Dec. for materials submitted to Graduate School; 15 Dec. for materials submitted to Department of English (although the department site states that submitting materials by 1 Dec. will “help to ensure full and unhurried consideration”). No spring admissions.
Financial Aid: MFA candidates are offered a 2-year support package combining a 1st-year graduate assistantship with full tuition fellowship working with Epoch literary magazine, a 2nd-year teaching assistantship with full tuition fellowship, and support for 1-2 summers.
# of students admitted per year: 8 (4 Poetry, 4 Fiction)
Web address: http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/mfa.html

HUNTER COLLEGE at the CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Subject areas: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction (Memoir or Biography), Poetry
Faculty: Peter Carey, Louise DeSalvo, Eva Hoffman, Tom Sleigh, Donna Masini, Jan Heller Levi, Meena Alexander, Jenefer Shute, Colum McCann, Colson Whitehead, Andrew Sean Greer, Elena Georgiou
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition is $3 200 per semester for residents, so the degree would be $12 800 in all. For non-residents, the tuition is by credit at $520 per credit; the degree is 36 credits and should cost $18 720 in all.
Application materials: Submit all materials to Office of Graduate Admissions: Graduate Application, $125 application fee, 2 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, personal statement (about yourself, why you write, and why you wish to come to Hunter; replaces statement of purpose in Graduate Application), writing sample; for creative nonfiction students, proposal for biography/memoir to write during program; interviews will be offered to waitlisted students
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Every semester, 5 Hertog Fellows (Fiction and Memoir students) are paired with a celebrated writer to work 10 hours a week as a research assistant; stipend is $5 K. Every semester, 5 Norma Lubetsky Friedman Scholars (Poetry students) work 10 hours a week with an established poet; stipend is also $5 K. 2nd-semester students can apply to teach Introduction to Creative Writing in the 3rd semester. Also, each year 2 MFA students are selected as Holtzbrinck Fellows, and are paid $10 K to work a 20-hour week for the academic year with the publishing imprints of Holtzbrink (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Henry Holt, St. Martins Press, and Picador).
Web address: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/creativewriting

THE NEW SCHOOL
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Writing for Children
Faculty: Robert Polito, Jeffrey Renard Allen, Jonathan Ames, Susan Bell, Mark Bibbins, Susan Cheever, Jonathan Dee, Elaine Equi, David Gates, Vivian Gornick, Shelley Jackson, Zia Jaffrey, Joyce Johnson, Hettie Jones, James Lasdun, David Lehman, Suzannah Lessard, Philip Lopate, Honor Moore, Maggie Nelson, Sigrid Nunez, Dale Peck, Liam Rector, Francine Prose, Helen Schulman, Tor Seidler, Dani Shapiro, Prageeta Sharma, Laurie Sheck, Darcey Steinke, Benjamin Taylor, Abigail Thomas, Paul Violi, Sarah Weeks, Susan Wheeler, Stephen Wright
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $9.5 K.
Application materials: Submit all materials to the New School Creative Writing Program: MFA in Creative Writing Application, $50 application fee, 2 recommendations, 2 transcripts, statement of purpose, portfolio, résumé/vitae; GRE not required
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The Writing program offers a limited number of scholarships to students who demonstrate financial need (amounts not specified). No teaching or graduate assistantships are mentioned on the program website—just government financial assistance programs, institutional scholarships/awards, and FAFSA.
Web address: http://www.generalstudies.newschool.edu/writing

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: E.L. Doctorow, Yusef Komunyakaa, Paule Marshall, Sharon Olds, Philip Levine, Breyten Breytenbach
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Tuition is $1 024 per credit. The program is 32 credits, so it should cost about $33 K in its entirety.
Application materials: Submit all materials to the Graduate School of Arts and Science: Graduate Application, $80 application fee (online applicants) or $90 application fee (paper applicants), 3 recommendations, GRE scores, 2 transcripts, statement of purpose, writing sample, resumé. Note for non-online applicants: those in Fiction should send 1 photocopy of all materials except for recommendations and transcripts; those in Poetry should send 2 photocopies of all materials except for recommendations and transcripts.
Deadline: 15 Dec. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Teaching Assistantships: Approximately 40 teaching assistantships are offered to English graduate students in their second year in the program, with a stipend of $4 K per course. But entering candidates already holding an MA in any field may be eligible for teaching positions in the Expository writing program that offer a $20 K stipend plus full tuition for 2 years. Departmental Fellowships: 65%-85% of incoming students are offered full or partial departmental fellowships, consisting of tuition remission and/or stipend support. Annual huge-ass fellowships from affiliated organizations: Several students are named New York Times fellows and spend 2 days a week in NYC high schools doing creative writing workshops (stipend of $20 K from NY Times plus full tuition from NYU). Students may also apply for seven semester-long Goldwater fellowships ($1.5 K awarded for teaching at Goldwater Hospital), or Starworks Fellowships (ranging from “$3 K” to “$19 K per academic year plus full tuition” for working with hospitalized and environmentally at-risk children). Other: The Luna Rosa Prison Writing Project (working with women inmates) is probably voluntary and unpaid, but since it’s so unique I thought I’d mention it.
Web address: http://cwp.fas.nyu.edu/page/grad_programs

SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE
Subject areas: Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Fiction
Faculty: Kate Knapp Johnson, Mary La Chapelle, Vijay Seshadri, Gerry Albarelli, Jo Ann Beard, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Kurt Brown, Melvin Jules Bukiet, Tina Chang, Rachel Cohen, Nicholas Dawidoff, Stephen Dobyns, Carolyn Ferrell, Suzanne Gardinier, Myra Goldberg, Matthea Harvey, Amy Hempel, Joshua Henkin, Kathleen Hill, David Hollander, Cathy Park Hong, Marie Howe, Elizabeth Kendall, Joan Larkin, Paul Lisicky, Thomas Lux, Jeffrey McDaniel, Ernesto Mestre, Mary Morris, Brian Morton, Dennis Nurkse, Stephen O’Connor, Kevin Pilkington, Victoria Redel, Nelly Reifler, Martha Rhodes, Lucy Rosenthal, John Burnham Schwartz, Joan Silber, Barbara Probst Solomon, Alice Truax, Jennifer Wallace, Lawrence Weschler, Penny Wolfson
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $23 520 (24 credits in Year 1); $11 760 (12 credits in Year 2)
Application materials: Submit all materials to Graduate Studies Office: MFA Writing Application, $60 application fee, 2 recommendations, transcript, answers to 3 essay questions (“Please write an autobiography of 500-100 words,” “Please state in specific and general terms why you want to pursue graduate work,” “Why do you want to pursue your studies at SLC?”), and manuscript; GRE not mentioned
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Through the Community Writers Program, Sarah Lawrence graduate writing students teach workshops, tutor or assist a writer-in-residence in the classroom. They also have access to placements at the Baccalaureate School for Global Education, the Bronx Academy of Letters, Concourse House, the State University of New York at Purchase, the Teachers & Writers Collaborative, the Westchester County Correctional Facility, and the Westchester County Department of the Aging. The logistics of these positions (e.g. tuition remission, stipend, salary) are not mentioned.
Web address: http://www.slc.edu/grad_writing.php

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Christopher Kennedy, Arthur Flowers, George Saunders, Mary Gaitskill, Farnoosh Moshiri, Michael Burkard, Brooks Haxton, Mary Karr, Bruce Smith
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: Tuition is $940 per credit. The program is 48 credits, so in all it should cost $45 120.
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Enrollment Management Center (GEMC): Graduate Application, $65 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, 2 transcripts (if you haven’t yet been awarded your degree, you must later submit a record showing that it has been awarded), statement of purpose, and required teaching statement (states your potential as a teacher, even if you don’t have formal teaching experience yet). Submit to Director of Creative Writing in English Graduate Office: writing sample with basic information sheet.
Deadline: Fall admissions: 1 Jan. (writing sample); 9 Jan. (all other materials). No spring admissions.
Financial Aid: 5 creative writing fellowships for entering students entail full tuition remission and a living stipend of $11 000 to $15 450 for the first year (amount depends on the fellowship). Also, for both new and continuing students, there are teaching assistantships that entail full tuition remission for one year and a stipend of $12 469; these are renewable each year.
# of students admitted per year: 12 (6 Poetry, 6 Fiction)
Web address: http://english.syr.edu/graduate/mfa.htm

North Carolina

2006-08-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY RALEIGH
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: John Balaban, Wilton Barnhardt, Bob Bateman, Angela Davis-Gardner, Steven B. Katz, John Kessel, Tom Lisk, Lucinda MacKethan
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition is $2.5 K (resident) or $8.5 K (non-resident). Application materials: Submit to the Graduate School: Graduate School Application, $55 application fee, GRE scores, 2 transcripts, and personal statement. Submit to the English Department: 3 recommendations (sent directly from recommenders), writing sample, optional statement of goals, optional resume/vitae.
Deadline: 1 Apr. (fall); 1 Nov. (spring)
Financial Aid: The English Department offers teaching assistantships but no research assistantships, and any fellowships are added to the stipends that teaching assistants receive. The conditions of fellowships and teaching assistantships (stipend value, tuition remission) are not specified.
# of students accepted each year: 12 (6 Fiction, 6 Poetry)
Web address: http://www.chass.ncsu.edu/english/englishnew/subpages/graduate/newdpgrmf.htm

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA GREENSBORO
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Jim Clark, Stuart Dischell, A. Van Jordan, Michael Parker, Lee Zacharias
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Tuition is per credit: $213.71 (residents) or $658.96 (non-residents). The degree is 36 credits, so in all it should cost about $8 K (residents) or about $24 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit Graduate Application for Admission, $45 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, and 2 transcripts to Graduate Admissions Office; submit writing sample to English Department; personal statement not mentioned
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Research assistantships with a stipend of $9 K for nine months are available to many applicants. Teaching assistantships also offer a stipend of $9 K for nine months; students who already hold an MA in English can teach in their first year; otherwise they have to wait until their second year to take a teaching assistantship. Out-of-state tuition waivers often accompany assistantships awarded to out-of-state students. A number of in-state tuition waivers are also available. To be considered for an assistantship, simply check a box on the application form. All applicants are considered for the Randall Jarrell and Fred Chappell Fellowships (values not specified).
# of admitted students: 10-12 per year
Web address: http://www.uncg.edu/eng/mfa/mfa.html

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA WILMINGTON
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Philip Furia, Lavonne Adams, Tim Bass, Karen Bender, Barbara Brannon, Wendy Brenner, Mark Cox, Clyde Edgerton, Philip Gerard, David Gessner, Rebecca Lee, Sarah Messer, Marlena Mörling, Robert Siegel, Michael White
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: $4.5 K (residents), $14.5 K (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit all materials to Graduate School Admissions: Application for Admission to the Graduate School, $45 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, statement of purpose, and manuscript; GRE not required.
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: In the financial aid section of the program website, it says to “check back.” The university financial aid website suggests the usual: FAFSA, federal grants/loans, institutional scholarships, etc.
Web address: http://www.uncw.edu/writers/mfa-about.html

Ohio

2006-08-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Lawrence Coates, Wendell Mayo, Sharona Muir, Larissa Szporluk, Nancy Lord, Karen Craigo, Michael Czyzniejewski, Theresa Williams, John Wylam
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $471 per credit (residents) or $820 (non-residents). The degree is 40 credits, and amounts to about $19 K (residents) or $33 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Admissions: Graduate College Application Form, $30 application fee, GRE scores, and 2 transcripts; submit to Department of English: MFA Application Form, 3 recommendations, statement of purpose, sample of critical writing, portfolio
Deadline: 15 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Students can apply for 2-year graduate teaching assistantships, which entail $7 864 for the academic year plus a full tuition waiver and $50 health insurance refund per semester.
Web address: http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/creative-writing/home.html

CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY
***Shares a Creative Writing MFA Program with Kent State, Youngstown State, and the University of Akron--called the NEOMFA or Northeast Ohio MFA consortium***
Subject areas: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Playwriting, Poetry, Literary Translations
Faculty: Neal Chandler, Michael Geither, John Gerlach, Sheila Schwartz
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $11 K (residents); $14.5 to $20.5 K (non-residents; “determined by the number of credits the student is transferring to Cleveland State”)
Application materials: Submit Application for Graduate Admission, $30 application fee, 3 recommendations, and transcript to Office of Graduate Admissions; submit statement of purpose and portfolio to NEOMFA Director by e-mail at manders0@kent.edu; GRE not required
Deadline: Fall admissions: All materials should be submitted by 1 Feb. for graduate assistantship consideration; if interested in admission only, submit the materials for the NEOMFA Director by 1 Mar., and submit the materials for the Cleveland State Office of Graduate Admissions by mid-July (6 weeks before the start of classes). No spring admissions.
Financial Aid: Graduate assistantships provide a tuition waiver and a stipend (value not specified). Each year, the English Department also awards a tuition scholarship of $1 K through the Leonard Trawick Scholarship Fund and tuition scholarships of approximately $3 K as prizes in creative writing contests.
Web address: http://www.ysu.edu/neomfa (website of Northeast Ohio Universities Consortium for MFA in Creative Writing);
http://www.csuohio.edu/gradcollege/catalog/Grad0608.pdf#MasterofFineArtsinCreativeWriting/NEOMFA (website of Cleveland MFA)

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Lee K. Abbott, Kathy Fagan, Michelle Herman, Andrew Hudgins, Lee Martin, Erin McGraw, Dick Davis, Angie Estes, Stephen Kuusisto, Jeredith Merrin
Length: “Normally, the degree is completed within 5 to 7 quarters of full-time graduate work” (a quarter is half a semester)
Tuition per year: Easier to go by quarter. Degree is 70 credits, so you complete at least 10 credits per quarter to complete the degree in 5 to 7 quarters. Quarterly tuition for 10+ credits is $3 K (residents) or $7.5 K (non-residents).
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Admissions: Online Graduate Application, $40 application fee (paid by credit card on online application), GRE scores, and transcript. Submit to Department of English: at least 3 recommendations, transcript, autobiographical statement, critical writing sample, creative writing sample, and resume/vitae.
Deadline: 31 Dec. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The English Department employs a number of graduate teaching associates, who are awarded a stipend of at least $11 395 (tuition remission not mentioned) for 1 year. There are also graduate administrative associates and graduate research associates (conditions for these two types of positions, such as stipend value and tuition remission, are not specified).
Web address: http://english.osu.edu/programs/graduate/mfaprog.htm

Oregon

2006-08-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Elizabeth Campbell, Tracy Daugherty, Karen Holmberg, Jon Lewis, Marjorie Sandor, Keith Scribner
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $9.5 K (resident), $15.5 K (non-resident)
Application materials: Submit to Office of Admissions: Graduate Application for Admission (2 copies), $50 application fee, 2 transcripts, statement of objectives (2 copies); submit to English Department: 3 recommendations, writing sample; GRE not required
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: There are teaching assistantships mentioned in the .PDF brochure on the site, but their conditions (stipend value, tuition remission) are not specified.
Web address: http://oregonstate.edu/cla/english/students/graduate/creativewriting.php

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: David Bradley, Laurie Lynn Drummond, Cai Emmons, Karen Ford, Ehud Havazelet, Garrett Hongo, Dorianne Laux, Robert Hill Long
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Program is 72 credits, so 18 are required per semester. Full-time tuition is $3 685 (resident) or $5 197 (non-resident) for 9-16 credits, plus $354 (residents) or $522 (non-residents) per extra credit. Tuition for residents—per semester—is $4 393; for non-residents, $6 241.
Application materials: Submit to Office of Admissions: Graduate Admission Application, $50 application fee, transcript; submit to Creative Writing Program: Copy of Graduate Application (not required for online applicants), 3 recommendations, transcript, personal statement, writing sample; GRE not required
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The Creative Writing Program attempts to fund all admitted students with Graduate Teaching Fellowships (GTFs). Students with GTFs receive full tuition waivers, partial payment of student fees, health insurance, and a stipend of $9,314 per academic year.
# of applicants per year: almost 400
# of applicants admitted: 6-7 in each of 2 genres (less than 4%). There are on average 24 students enrolled each year.
Web address: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~crwrweb/mfa.htm

Pennsylvania

2006-08-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

CHATHAM COLLEGE
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction (with a focus on environment, nature and travel writing)
Faculty: Melanie Fox, Marc Nieson, Peter Oresick, Adale Sholock, Randall Silvis, Michael Simms, Sheryl St. Germain, Karen Williams
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by cost of entire program. Tuition is $622 per credit; program is 42 credits. Total cost of degree is about $26 K.
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Admissions: Application for Graduate Admission, $45 application fee, 2 recommendations, transcript, personal letter (stating genre of interest and detailing strengths and reasons for wanting to enter Chatham’s MFA program), writing sample, resume; GRE not required
Deadline: 1 May (fall); 15 Oct. (spring)
Financial Aid: For an incoming student with a demonstrated interest in environmental and nature writing, the Rachel Carson Fellowship will offer $10 K ($5 K per semester). It is possible for the award to be split between 2 students in a year, each receiving $5 K.
Web address: http://www.chatham.edu/departments/writing/graduate/writing/index.cfm

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: William J. Cobb, Robin Becker, Cecil Giscombe, Charlotte Holmes, Julia Kasdorf, Brian Lennon, Josip Novakovich, Toby Thompson
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: $9 K (residents), $16 K (non-residents)
Application materials: Submit to Graduate Enrollment Services: Graduate School Application, $45 application fee (online applicants) or $60 application fee (paper applicants). Submit to English Graduate Program: copy of graduate school application (if you did not file electronically), 3 recommendations, GRE scores, 2 transcripts, statement of purpose, writing sample
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: The department awards the Katey Lehman Fellowship for 1 year to an incoming student in Fiction/Poetry. The fellowship provides a stipend, remission of all tuition fees, and requires the teaching of 1 course. Teaching assistantships are available on a competitive basis, and provide a stipend (value not specified) plus full remission of tuition and related fees. Summer teaching is often available and provides the opportunity for additional income.
Web address: http://english.la.psu.edu/graduate/masteroffinearts.htm

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Faith Adiele, Ellen Bishop, Michael Byers, Cathy Day, Toi Derricotte, Bruce Dobler, Lynn Emanuel, Lee Gutkind, Chuck Kinder, Jeanne Marie Laskas, Lewis (Buddy) Nordan, Jeff Oaks
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: $14 K (resident), $26 K (non-resident)
Application materials: Submit all materials to English Graduate Office: Graduate Application (online version only), $50 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, statement of purpose, writing sample, list of institutions attended (with GPA, degree earned, and date for each institution)
Deadline: 15 Dec. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Financial support is offered to a few qualified students in the form of teaching assistantships and graduate assistantships. Teaching assistants receive $13 555 per year; graduate student assistants receive $11 070 per year. Tuition benefits depend on whether the appointment is full-time, 3/4-time, 1/2-time, or 1/4-time. The tuition remission is 12 credits, 9 credits, 6 credits, and 3 credits respectively. TA’s and GA’s also get health insurance coverage.
Students admitted per year: 21 (divided equally among 3 genres); total enrollment of about 60
Web address: http://www.english.pitt.edu/graduate/mfa/index.html

Rhode Island

2006-08-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

BROWN UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: I’ll number them, since it’s confusing for this one. There’s (1) Fiction, (2) Poetry, (3) Playwriting, and (4) “Literary Hypermedia” (electronic writing). There’s also “Cross-Disciplinary” studies, in which you work in 1 or 2 genres apart from your genre of primary interest. For some students, cross-disciplinary studies can even go into other areas such as music, visual art, performance art, etc.
Faculty: Robert Coover, Brian Evenson, Thalia Field, Carole Maso, Meredith Steinbach, Forrest Gander, Michael S. Harper, Gale Nelson, Keith Waldrop, C.D. Wright, Aishah Rahman, Paula Vogel, Erin Cressida Wilson
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $34 K
Application requirements: Submit all materials to Graduate School Admission Office: Graduate School Application, $70 application fee, 3 recommendations (sent directly from recommenders), transcript, personal statement, writing sample; GRE not required
Deadline: 15 Dec. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: In the first year, graduate students typically receive a fellowship or proctorship that pays a small monthly stipend (value not specified) and covers tuition, the health fee, and health insurance. Fellowships are awarded in recognition of merit and personal need and don’t require employment; proctorships involve non-academic employment. In the second year, all graduate students in good standing who are considered appropriately qualified will be awarded teaching assistantships. Teaching assistants receive a full stipend (value not specified), tuition, health fee, and health insurance.
Applications per year: 650-700
Applicants accepted: 5 Fiction, 5 Poetry, 3 playwrights, 1 electronic writer (roughly 2% of all applicants)
Web address: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Literary_Arts

South Carolina

2006-08-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Elise Blackwell, Kwarme Dawes, Fed Dings, Janette Turner Hospital, Dianne Johnson, William Fox, Ben Greer, Ed Madden, Tara Powell
Length: Program is 45 credits. Graduate students take 12-15 credits per semester, so at this rate it should take 1.5 to 2 years; but holding assistantships may call for a lighter course load (as low as 6 credits per semester), in which case it could take longer.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition is $4 K (residents) or $9 K (non-residents) for students taking 12-15 credits; tuition is $411 per credit (residents) or $874 per credit (non-residents) for students taking less.
Application requirements: Submit to Graduate School: Graduate School Application, $40 application fee, at least 2 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript; submit to Department of English: statement of purpose, academic writing sample, creative writing sample
Deadline: Fall admissions: 30 Jan. (for students wanting to be considered for fellowships or assistantships); 15 April for others. No spring admissions.
Financial Aid: The James Dickey Fellowships in Poetry and Fiction, in addition to the Sadler Fellowship in Creative Writing, are awarded to MFA applicants with exceptional promise; values are not specified. The English Department offers teaching, editorial, instructional and research assistantships that confer in-state tuition status, as well as a stipend and tuition supplement whose amounts vary with the type of assistantship (exact values not specified).
Web address: http://www.cas.sc.edu/engl/grad/mfa.html

Tennessee

2006-08-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Thomas Russell, Richard Bausch, John Bensko, Cary Holladay, Kristen Iversen
Length: Full-time graduates take 9-12 credits per semester; at this rate, the 48-credit degree should take 2-3 years.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition is $3 056 (resident, 9-credit); $3 189 (resident, 12-credit); $7 024 (non-resident, 9-credit); $8 422 (non-resident, 12-credit).
Application requirements: Submit to Graduate Admissions: Graduate Application (online version only; may include personal statement—but I can’t check unless I start one), $35 application fee, GRE scores and transcript. Submit to Department of English: 2 recommendations and portfolio.
Deadline: 15 Feb. (Fall); 15 Oct. (Spring)
Financial Aid: Service and teaching assistantships (Graduate Assistantships and Teaching Assistantships) carry stipends (values not specified) in addition to the remission of university fees.
Web address: http://cas.memphis.edu/english/grad/mfa.htm

Texas

2006-08-24T18:28:00.000-07:00

SOUTHWEST TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Cyrus Cassells, Dagoberto Gilb, Tom Grimes, Roger Jones, Debra Monroe, Kathleen Peirce, Steve Wilson
Length: Full-time students take 9-15 credits per semester; program is 48 credits. It could take anything from 3.2 (or 4) semesters to 5.3 (or 6) semesters.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition for residents is $1 134 (9 credits); $1 512 (12 credits); $1 890 (15 credits). Tuition for non-residents is $3 618 (9 credits); $4 824 (12 credits); $6 030 (15 credits).
Application requirements: Submit to Graduate School: Graduate School Application, $40 application fee, and transcript. Submit to English Department: 3 recommendations, copy of transcript, and portfolio. GRE not mentioned; statement of purpose is only required as part of an assistantship application.
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall semester); 1 Nov. (spring semester)
Financial Aid: Approximately 30 MFA students hold TA positions, and another 10 hold IA (instructional assistant) positions. Many students work extra hours in the summer. Students who hold an assistantship pay in-state tuition rates; the monthly salaries for assistantships are not specified. All applicants who are accepted into the program will have their application manuscripts considered for the $37.5 K Rose Fellowship.
Enrollment: 50-60 students enrolled in any given year
Web address: http://mfa.english.txstate.edu/

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Antonya Nelson, Adam Zagajewski, Chitra Divakaruni, Daniel Stern, Edward Hirsch, James Kastely, Kathleen Lee, Mark Doty, Matthea Harvey, nick Flynn, Robert Boswell, Robert Phillips, Ruben Martinez, Tony Hoagland
Length: Degree is 42 credits. Full-time graduates take a minimum of 9 credits per semester. At this rate, it should take 4.67 (or 5) semesters.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $188.50 (residents) or $463.50 (non-residents); in all, the program should cost about $8 K (residents) or $19.5 K (non-residents).
Application requirements: Submit all materials to Creative Writing Program: Application for Graduate Studies, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores reported from both ETS and the applicant (submit a photocopy of your score report, as ETS will not report your score until the program finishes reviewing applications); 2 transcripts, statement of intent, manuscript, list of “awards, fellowships and publications”
Deadline: 1 Jan. (fall); generally no admission in spring
Financial Aid: Teaching fellowships pay a 9-month salary (not specified), provide health insurance, remit all tuition charges for 9 credits per semester, and guarantee resident tuition rates for additional credits. Incoming students are eligible for a number of $5 K to $10 K fellowship awards from Imprint, Inc. (a Houston Literary Organization), given in several allotments over the course of the degree. Each year, current students can compete for two Imprint/Michener Fellowships (1 Poetry, 1 Fiction)—the amount varies annually and has ranged from $9 K to $12 K. Also, 5 Donald Barthelme Memorial Fellowships (2 Fiction, 2 Poetry, 1 Nonfiction) are worth $2.5 K; Imprint also offers a limited number of $1 K Tuition Fellowships for returning students each fall in response to the Creative Writing Program’s commitment to ensuring resident tuition for all its students (according to state law, receiving this or any competitive fellowship of at least $1 K entitles the student to pay resident tuition). Lastly, there’s the Brazos Bookstore/Academy of American Poets Prize, but the value isn’t specified.
Web address: http://www.class.uh.edu/cwp/index.htm

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS EL PASO
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Playwriting, Screenwriting, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Rosa Alcalá, Daniel Chacón, Johnny Payne, Luis Arturo Ramos, Benjamin Alíre Sáenz, Leslie Ullman, Lex Williford
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by cost of entire program. Degree is 48 credits; tuition is $163.50 per credit (residents) or $438.50 per credit (non-residents). In all, it should cost $8 K (residents) or $21 K (non-residents).
Application requirements: Submit all materials to Graduate School: Graduate Application, $15 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, writing sample; no GRE required; no personal statement required
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Teaching assistantships are available for qualified students, but their conditions (stipend value, tuition remission) are not specifed. However, stipends are described as “competitive with those of [UTEP’s] regional peer institutions.”
Enrollment: 35 students on roster
Web address: http://www.utep.edu/cw

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Playwriting, Screenwriting
Faculty: Michael Adams, Oscar Casares, Steven Dietz, Robert Foshko, Laura Furman, Zulfikar Ghose, Stephen Harrigan, Elizabeth Harris, Kurt Heinzelman, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, Stuart Kelban, Judith Kroll, Peter LaSalle, Richard Lewis, James Magnuson, Charles Ramirez-Berg, A. Van Jordan, David Wevill, Thomas Whitbread, Suzan Zeder
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Degree is 54 credits in all (should work out to 9 per semester). Tuition per semester for 9-credit graduate students is $2 428 (residents) or $5 665 (non-residents).
Application requirements: Submit to Graduate and International Admissions Center (GAIC): Electronic Application, $50 application fee, GRE scores, transcript; Submit to UT Michener Center for Writers: 3 recommendations, another transcript, MCW Cover Sheet (essential for processing of application), statement of purpose, writing sample
Deadline: 15 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Every admitted student receives an annual fellowship ($20 K as of 1 Sept. 2005). Tuition and fees are paid as part of the fellowship package, and support is renewable each year with satisfactory progress. Moreover, students in good standing may apply for Professional Development Funds to attend writing conferences and residencies, do research, travel, or obtain summer support for a major writing project. The current PDF allotment per student is $6 K over the three years.
# of applicants per year: “hundreds”
# of students admitted: 10-12 (less than 2% in Fiction, 4%-6% in other genres)
Web address: http://www.utexas.edu/academic/mcw

Utah

2006-08-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Karen Brennan, Francois Camoin, Katherine Coles, Jacqueline Osherow, Paisley Rekdal, Donald Revell, Melanie Rae Thon
Length: Full-time graduate students take at least 9 credits per semester; degree is 33 credits. At this rate, it should take 3.67 (or 4) semesters.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. You take 9 courses at 3 credits each, plus a 6-credit thesis. Hence, the 33-credit program. If a resident took 9 credits in her first 3 semesters, she’d be charged $1 604.05 for each 9-credit semester; in her 4th semester, when she does her thesis, she’d be charged $1 210.63 for that 6-credit semester. Her total tuition cost would be $6 022.78. If a non-resident did the same, he’d be charged $5 663.67 for each of his first 3 semesters (9 credits each), plus $4 278.90 for his 4th semester (of 6 credits). His total tuition cost would be $21 269.91.
Application requirements: Submit Application for Graduate Admission, $45 application fee, and transcript to Graduate School; submit English Department Graduate Application Form, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, photocopy of transcript, statement of purpose, critical writing sample, and creative writing sample to English Department
Deadline: It’s complicated for this one. For materials submitted to the English Department: 15 Dec. if interested in admission for the following fall with teaching assistantship; 15 Apr. if interested only in admission for the following fall; 15 Oct. if interested only in admission for the following spring (as you can see, teaching assistants are only hired in the fall). For materials submitted to the Graduate School: 1 month prior to the appropriate deadline in the English Department, so that the English Department receives them on time after they are processed by the Graduate School.
Financial Aid: Teaching assistants receive an annual stipend of approximately $9.5 K plus a waiver of resident or non-resident tuition. The university subsidizes 80% of a standard health insurance premium for full-time teaching assistants.
Web address: http://www.hum.utah.edu/display.php?pageId=720

Virginia

2006-08-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Jennifer Atkinson, Sally Keith, Peter Klappert, Eric Pankey, Susan Tichy, Courtney Brkic, Alan Cheuse, Stephen Goodwin, Susan Richards Shreve, Beverly Lowry, Kyoko Mori
Length: At least 2 years, but of course TA’s are slowed down because of the reduced course load. TA’s who receive an appointment in their 1st year are assumed to have it through 3 full years required to complete the program.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition per credit is $282 (residents) or $715 (non-residents). Program is 48 credits, and should cost about $13.5 K (residents) or $34.5 (non-residents).
Application requirements: Submit all materials to Graduate Admissions Office: Graduate Application, $60 application fee, 2 recommendations, 2 transcripts, statement of purpose, portfolio, critical literary analysis; GRE not mentioned
Deadline: 2 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: There’s a variety of awards for this one. (1) Heritage Writer: Each year, 1 MFA student is designated as the Heritage Writer and receives a $10 K stipend plus full tuition waiver. (2) Teaching Assistantships: 4-5 graduate teaching assistantships are open in each genre. TA’s earn a stipend of about $8 760 (more for students with an MA) plus their tuition is covered by the Writing Program. (3) Philip Graham Fellowships: for incoming creative writing students, these support the work of the strongest new students in each genre (though their values are not specified). (4) Thesis Fellows: positions that provide a stipend commensurate with TA stipends plus tuition waiver of $8 K to almost $10 K per year. (5) MFA Fellows: $10 K stipends, paid as $5 K each semester for an academic year; for students not simultaneously receiving another award; 2 positions available annually, one in fiction/creative nonfiction and one in poetry.
# of applicants per year: 300+
# of applicants accepted: 38 (15 Poetry, 15 Fiction, up to 8 Creative Nonfiction)
Web address: http://www.gmu.edu/acadexcel/findex.html (click on “Graduate and Professional Programs,” followed by “Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences”—then scroll down to click on “Creative Writing MFA”)

HOLLINS UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Playwriting, Creative Nonfiction, Children’s Literature
Faculty: Jeanne Larsen, T.J. Anderson, R.H.W. Dillard, Cathryn Hankla, Wayne Johnston, Marilyn Moriarty, Julie Pfeiffer, Klaus Phillips, Eric Trethewey
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $24 K
Application requirements: Submit all materials to Graduate Center: Application for Graduate Admission, $40 application fee, 3 recommendations, transcript, statement of purpose, manuscript; GRE optional
Deadline: 6 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Teaching fellowships are available 2nd year, but their conditions (stipend value, tuition remission) are not specified. Entering students can use
the FAFSA to apply for financial aid.
# of students accepted per year: 12
Web address: http://www.hollins.edu/grad/eng_writing/eng_writing.htm

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Drama
Faculty: Luisa Carino Igloria, Michael Pearson, Janet Peery, Sheri Reynolds, Tim Seibles, Brian Silberman
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $285 per credit (residents) and $715 per credit (non-residents). Degree is 54 credits and should cost about $15.5 K (residents) or $38.5 K (non-residents).
Application requirements: Submit to Admissions Office: Graduate Application, $40 application fee, 2 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, statement of purpose, writing sample, resume. Submit to Department of English: duplicates of statement of purpose and writing sample.
Deadline: 15 Feb. if interested in financial aid; 1 Mar. otherwise. This only applies to fall admission. There is no spring admission.
Financial Aid: A limited number of research and teaching assistantships are available to MFA students. Assistantships are competitive and pay $10 K per year. Out-of-state students with assistantships are eligible for tuition unfunded scholarships [not sure what that is; probably a reduction to resident tuition], and all graduate assistants may be eligible for tuition grants.
Enrollment: 25-35 per semester
Web address: http://al.odu.edu/mfacw

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Ann Beattie, Sydney Blair, John Casey, Rita Dove, Deborah Eisenberg, Jeb Livingood, Debra Nystrom, Gregory Orr, Lisa Russ Spaar, Christopher Tilghman, Charles Wright
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $7.5 (residents), $14.5 (non-residents)
Application requirements: Submit Graduate Application with statement of purpose, $60 application fee, at least 2 recommendations, GRE scores, and transcript to Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Submit manuscript to Department of English.
Deadline: 2 Jan. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: In recent years, all admitted students have received either a Henry Hoyns or Poe/Faulkner Fellowship in their first year, which covers tuition costs and allows for a stipend (value not specified). Furthermore, in recent years, all students have received an instructorship during their second year; conditions for these instructorships (tuition remission, stipend value) are not specified—nevertheless, the program’s tuition rates are extremely competitive.
Web address: http://www.engl.virginia.edu/cwp

VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction
Faculty: Laura Browder, Susann Cokal, Tom De Haven, Gregory Donovan, Clint McCown, Gary Sange, David Wojahn
Length: 3 years for most students; may be 2 for those who enter with an MA in English or previous graduate coursework, or do not hold teaching assistantships
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $3.5 K (residents) or $8 K (non-residents).
Application requirements: Submit Graduate Application, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript and personal statement to School of Graduate Studies; submit portfolio to Department of English
Deadline: 15 Jan. for students interested in fellowships; 1 Feb. otherwise. This is for fall—there are no spring admissions.
Financial Aid: Teaching assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis, cover the cost of tuition and provide a stipend of about $10 K per year. The MFA program awards a number of fellowships each year to outstanding new students in fiction and poetry; these fellowships cover the cost of tuition and fees and provide a $6.5 stipend per semester. 2nd-year fiction students are eligible for the David Baldacci Fiction Fellowship, which covers the cost of tuition and provides a stipend equal to that of a teaching assistantship. The School of Graduate Studies offers 1-year fellowships on a competitive basis for MFA/MA students who have completed all program requirements but their thesis; these cover the cost of tuition and fees and provide a $13 K stipend for their final year.
Web address: http://www.has.vcu.edu/eng/graduate/mfa.htm

VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Playwriting
Faculty: Fred D’Aguiar, Ed Falco, Nikki Giovanni, Bob Hicok, Jeff Mann, Lucinda Roy, Katherine Soniat
Length: Graduate students take 9-12 credits per semester; program is 48 credits. It should take 2-3 years.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $3.5 K (residents) or $6 K (non-residents).
Application requirements: Submit to Graduate School Admissions: Graduate Application (includes personal statement and resume; detach the personal statement and submit it to the Department of English instead), $45 application fee, transcript; submit to Department of English: 3 recommendations, GRE scores, GRE English subject test scores (optional), transcript, portfolio, “publications, awards, and profession record”
Deadline: Fall admission only. The English Department starts to review applications in early February, but they will continue reviewing applications through the spring and until classes are full. The graduate school prefers to receive admissions in mid-December. The earlier you apply, the better, especially if you’re interested in financial aid.
Financial Aid: 8 students each year receive Alfred Knobler Scholarships in their 1st semesters (value not specified). In subsequent semesters, they will be offered graduate teaching assistantships; the conditions for these (stipend value, tuition remission) are not specified.
Web address: http://www.has.vcu.edu/eng/graduate/mfa.htm

Washington

2006-08-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Literary Nonfiction
Faculty: Christopher Howell, Jonathan Johnson, John Keeble, Natalie Kusz, Samuel Ligon, Gregory Spatz, Nance Van Winckel
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: $7 K (residents), $17.5 K (non-residents)
Application requirements: Submit to Graduate Studies Office: Graduate Admission Application, $50 application fee, GRE scores, 2 transcripts; submit to Eastern Washington University—Inland Northwest Center for Writers: 3 recommendations, Graduate Admission Essay (a letter stating reasons for pursuing MFA), and writing sample
Deadline: Fall admission only. 1 Mar. if interested in teaching assistantship; otherwise applications to the program are accepted throughout the academic year
Financial Aid: Only incoming students may apply for teaching assistantships. These last two years and carry a stipend (value not specified) in addition to a tuition waiver. The number of teaching assistantships available per year is 4 to 8. Returning students that did not get teaching assistantships when they entered the program are eligible for graduate assistantships and merit scholarships (values not specified).
# of students accepted per year: 20-30
Web address: http://www.ewu.edu/x2078.xml

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry
Faculty: Linda Bierds, David Bosworth, Charles Johnson, Richard Kenney, Colleen McElroy, Heather McHugh, David Shields, Maya Sonenberg, David Wagoner, Shawn Wong
Length: 6 full-time quarters, i.e. 1.5 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by quarter. Tuition per quarter is $3 K (residents) or $7 K (non-residents).
Application requirements: Submit to Office of Graduate Admissions: Online Graduate School Application and $45 application fee (paid online by credit card); submit to Office of English Graduate Studies: printed copy of online application, 3 recommendations, GRE scores, transcript, statement of purpose, critical writing sample, creative writing sample (3 copies)
Deadline: 2 Jan. (fall admission); no spring admission
Financial Aid: Teaching assistantships are awarded on a competitive basis to outstanding graduate students; along with the stipend (value not specified), there is a tuition waiver and health insurance. There are also about a dozen departmental scholarships, fellowships, and prizes—a list can be found on the website—for minority students, students with financial need, and students doing dissertations; unfortunately, their values are not specified.
Web address: http://depts.washington.edu/engl/grad/MFA.html

West Virginia

2006-08-24T18:16:00.000-07:00

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
Subject areas: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry
Faculty: Gail Galloway Adams, Mark Brazaitis, Ben Doyle, James Harms, Ellesa Clay High, Kevin Oderman, Mary Ann Samyn, Ethel Morgan Smith
Length: 3 years
Tuition per year: $5 K (residents), $14.5 K (non-residents)
Application requirements: Submit to Office of Admissions and Records: Application for Graduate Admission, $50 application fee, GRE scores, and transcript. Submit to Department of English: MFA Cover Sheet, 3 recommendations, personal statement, and writing sample.
Deadline: 1 Feb. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: Most students admitted into the MFA program receive Graduate Teaching Assistantships that include a stipend of about $7.5 K for the academic year and a waiver of tuition and most fees. In many cases, an additional $1.5 K may be added to this base salary from the Stephen F. Crocker Scholarship Fund. If sufficient progress is being made towards the degree, the assistantship is normally renewed for the 2nd and 3rd years. Students who attend the English Department’s summer internship program in teaching are paid an additional stipend.
Web address: http://www.as.wvu.edu/english/cw/mfa.html

Wisconsin

2006-08-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction—Note that Poets and Fiction Writers are admitted in alternating years!
Faculty: Quan Barry, Amaud Jamaul Johnson, Jesse Lee, Kercheval, Ron Kuka, Judith Claire Mitchell, Lorrie Moore, Ronald Wallace, Heather Dubrow, Roberta Hill, Richard Knowles, Anne McClintock
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $4.5 K (residents), $12 K (non-residents), or $5 K (Minnesotans).
Application requirements: Submit to Graduate School: Graduate Application (online), $45 application fee (paid online by credit card), and 3 recommendations (submitted online). Submit to Department of English: 2 transcripts, personal statement (can be submitted with online application instead), writing sample with cover sheet; GRE not required
Deadline: 15 Dec. (fall); no spring admissions
Financial Aid: With the exception of the Renk Fellow (described further down), all MFA students receive financial support as follows. Teaching assistantships provide an annual stipend of approximately $10.3 K in the 1st year and $10.8 K in the 2nd year. Adjustments are made for people with prior college teaching experience. Each teaching assistant receives a $2.5 summer prize scholarship at the end of the first year in residence. Teaching assistants also receive free tuition and generous health benefits. Now for the Renk Fellow: each time a poetry class is admitted, 1 incoming poet will be awarded a Martha Meier Renk Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Poetry. The Renk Fellow receives a teaching assistantship during the 1st of the program (see description of 1st-year teaching package as described above). During the 2nd year, in lieu of an assistantship, he/she receives a stipend of approximately $15 K, an expense account of $1.5 K, free tuition, and generous health benefits (though he/she cannot receive summer prize scholarships).
Web address: http://creativewriting.wisc.edu/mfa.php

Wyoming

2006-08-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

UNIVERISTY OF WYOMING
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Craig Arnold, Alyson Hagy, H.L. Hix, Vicki Lindner, Jeff Lockwood, David Romtve, Brad Watson
Length: 2 years
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $159 per credit (residents) or $456 per credit (non-residents). Degree is 40 to 42 credits; for a resident, it should cost about $6.5 K in all; for a non-resident, about $18 to $19 K in all.
Application requirements: Submit to Graduate School: Application for Admission (online), $50 application fee (paid online by credit card), GRE scores, transcript; submit to English Department: Application to the Creative Writing MFA Program, 3 recommendations, transcript, statement of purpose, writing sample
Deadline: 1 Feb.
Financial Aid: A number of teaching assistantships are available to qualified applicants. Assistantships carry an annual stipend of about $10 K, full-time tuition waivers and fee reduction, and health insurance.
Web address: http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/creativewriting