Eligibility, Sourcing and Verification
What we list, where every fact comes from, and what we do not claim.
Last updated 9 October 2026
We currently list 126 programs at 89 schools, and record 157 related offerings we checked and did not list (shown on each school page with the reason). Coverage is partial and growing: a program missing from the directory has simply not been verified yet.
Which degrees are eligible
This is a directory of dedicated creative writing degrees. The awarded degree and the official program identity decide eligibility — not the name of the department.
| Included | Not included |
|---|---|
| BFA in Creative Writing; BFA in Writing when the curriculum demonstrably focuses on creative writing | BA in English with a creative writing concentration, track or electives; general English degrees |
| BA in Creative Writing; BA in Writing with a demonstrated creative writing curriculum | Journalism, technical, professional and rhetoric/composition writing degrees without a creative writing identity |
| MFA in Creative Writing, Writing, Fiction or Poetry; MFAs with unusual titles (e.g. Literary Arts) when official text establishes a dedicated creative writing degree | All MA degrees, minors, certificates, non-degree workshops and summer courses |
| PhD whose official degree or program title names creative writing | PhD in English with a creative writing specialization; standalone screenwriting or dramatic writing degrees |
Every listed program carries an eligibility record: the official program name, the awarded degree wording, the degree level, the decision, an explanation and the official page that shows it, with the verification date. BA and BFA are never relabelled. A deterministic gate checks every research decision and can only make it stricter: anything that looks like an MA, a minor, a certificate, an English degree or a concentration goes to an editor instead of being published automatically.
Formats and pace
Delivery (campus-based, low-residency, fully online, hybrid) and intensity (full-time, part-time, flexible) are recorded separately, because they are independent: a low-residency MFA can be full-time or part-time. A program is “fully online” only when the school states that no in-person residency is required; any mandatory residency makes it low-residency. For low-residency programs we record residency frequency, length, location, attendance rules, travel, residency fees and the remote-study structure when published.
On online pages, a location (“based in Los Angeles”) is where the administering school or verified program site is. It is not a residence requirement and does not mean students from every state are eligible; published state-authorization restrictions are shown on the program page.
Sources
- Program facts come from the school's own pages: program and department pages, the catalog or bulletin, graduate admissions, bursar/tuition tables and funding pages.
- Institutional identity (official name, address, public/private control) comes from the U.S. Department of Education's IPEDS directory data (2024–25), linked through College Navigator.
- Other directories and rankings may help us discover candidates, but never establish a fact. We do not copy their content.
Verification
Every published fact stores the URL it came from and a verbatim quote from that page. An automated check re-fetches the page and searches for the quote; a fact whose quote is not found is stored but never shown. Editors can confirm a fact manually after reading the source. Each fact on the site shows its source and verification date.
Unknown stays unknown. Missing GRE information is “not verified”, not “not required”; missing funding information is “funding not verified”, not “unfunded”. Deadlines keep the cycle the school printed; a past date is marked passed and never rolled into a new cycle. Tuition keeps its category (in-state, out-of-state, international), basis (per credit, per year, per residency, whole program) and academic year; a total calculated from per-credit pricing is labelled as calculated with its assumptions.
Funding has its own published policy: see the funding methodology. Editorial selections (“Best” lists) follow the selection methodology.
What we do not claim
- We do not publish or estimate acceptance rates, selectivity, prestige or employment outcomes.
- A faculty list shows who the program listed on the date we checked — not who is teaching or taking students in a given year.
- Listing is not an endorsement, and a school's absence is not a judgment.
- Requirements, costs and deadlines change. Always confirm with the school before applying.
Corrections
Schools and readers can request a correction with an official source. Corrections are reviewed against official pages; nobody can edit a profile directly, and sponsorship does not change facts.