Editorial selection
Best Online MFA Creative Writing Programs
Fully online MFA programs (no required in-person residency) that publish costs, genres and program length on official pages. An editorial assessment against published criteria, listed alphabetically — not an official ranking.
Methodology v1.0 · criteria and evidence rules · reviewed October 9, 2026
Lindenwood University
Writing, MFA · Saint Charles, MO · Fully online
Funding not verifiedFiction · Poetry · Creative Nonfiction
Lindenwood University offers a fully online Writing, MFA in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. Published length: From one and a half years to a maximum of five years, depending on credit hours per term, 48 credit hours, including a 6-credit thesis.
Evidence for each criterion
- Curriculum and genre fit
- Genres named by the program: 3; curriculum elements verified: thesis.
- Source quality and freshness
- Eligibility and facts verified on official pages; last verified 2026-10-09.
- Teaching and editing opportunities
- journal work documented.
- Published cost
- Tuition published (1 verified rate).
- Program structure
- Format verified; length: From one and a half years to a maximum of five years, depending on credit hours per term.
Each fact links to its official source on the program page.
The University of Texas at El Paso
M.F.A. in Creative Writing Online · El Paso, TX · Fully online
Funding not verifiedFiction · Poetry
The University of Texas at El Paso offers a fully online M.F.A. in Creative Writing Online in fiction and poetry. Published length: Two years encouraged; up to five years allowed, 36 semester credit hours: 33 of workshops and literature classes plus 3 of thesis.
Evidence for each criterion
- Curriculum and genre fit
- Genres named by the program: 2; curriculum elements verified: thesis.
- Source quality and freshness
- Eligibility and facts verified on official pages; last verified 2026-10-09.
- Teaching and editing opportunities
- school literary journal: Río Grande Review.
- Published cost
- Tuition published (2 verified rates).
- Program structure
- Format verified; length: Two years encouraged; up to five years allowed.
Each fact links to its official source on the program page.
Not selected does not mean not good: a program can be missing because we have not yet verified the evidence, because it is outside our current coverage, or because it publishes less information. Schools can send official sources through the correction form.