An independent directory of dedicated creative writing degrees in the United States
Dedicated creative writing degrees (BFA, BA, MFA and PhD) offered by schools in undefined. English degrees with a creative writing concentration are not listed.
89 schools · page 1 of 5
Listed alphabetically by school. This directory is not a ranking — editorial selections are published separately under Rankings. What we list
Washington, DCPrivate nonprofit
American University's Department of Literature in the College of Arts and Sciences offers a two-year, 36-credit MFA in Creative Writing with workshops in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Workshops are offered at night, and students can study full-time or part-time. The college also sponsors the literary journal Folio.
Culver City, CAPrivate nonprofit
Antioch University Los Angeles runs a low-residency MFA in Creative Writing, founded in 1997, with two ten-day hybrid residencies a year (June and December) that can be attended on the Los Angeles campus or online, followed by five-month online project periods with a faculty mentor. Students are admitted in one of seven genres, including writing for the screen, playwriting and literary translation.
Tempe, AZPublic
Arizona State University's Department of English offers a three-year MFA in Creative Writing on the Tempe campus with fiction and poetry tracks. MFA students can work with the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, the Center for Imagination in the Borderlands and Hayden's Ferry Review. Teaching assistantships are awarded competitively.
Bennington, VTPrivate nonprofit
Bennington College offers the Bennington Writing Seminars, a two-year low-residency MFA in Writing in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, with a dual-genre option that now includes literary translation as a secondary concentration. Students attend 10-day residencies on the Bennington, Vermont campus each January and June and exchange monthly packets with a faculty mentor between residencies.
Boston, MAPrivate nonprofit
Boston University's Creative Writing Program offers an MFA in Creative Writing in fiction or poetry, usually completed in one academic year plus summer study, with a full-tuition scholarship for every admitted student and a post-degree Global Fellowship for travel abroad. The program is not accepting applications in Fall 2026 for the 2027-28 academic year.
Bowling Green, OHPublic
BGSU's Creative Writing Program in the Department of English offers an undergraduate creative writing degree in fiction and poetry that ends with a senior thesis and public reading, and a two-year MFA in Creative Writing with fiction and poetry concentrations. MFA students work toward a book-length thesis, and graduate assistantships with a tuition scholarship and stipend are available to eligible face-to-face students.
Providence, RIPrivate nonprofit
Brown's Department of Literary Arts offers a two-year MFA with tracks in fiction, poetry and digital/cross-disciplinary writing, and an undergraduate concentration in Literary Arts leading to the Bachelor of Arts.
Valencia, CAPrivate nonprofit
CalArts' School of Critical Studies offers a two-year MFA in Creative Writing with a non-genre-tracking curriculum built around faculty mentorship, workshops, and optional concentrations. CalArts does not list an undergraduate creative writing degree; the school provides general education for BFA students.
Pittsburgh, PAPrivate nonprofit
Carnegie Mellon's Department of English awards a B.A. in Creative Writing in which undergraduates write fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and creative nonfiction. The 99-unit major combines introductory genre courses, a Reading in Forms course, four workshops, and English electives.
Orange, CAPrivate nonprofit
Chapman University's Department of English in Wilkinson College offers a BFA in Creative Writing and a 36-credit MFA in Creative Writing in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. The department is associated with the John Fowles Center for Creative Writing and Tabula Poetica: Center for Poetry.
Fort Collins, COPublic
Colorado State University's Department of English offers a three-year MFA in Creative Writing in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. The department houses the Center for Literary Publishing and Colorado Review and runs the Creative Writing Reading Series. Undergraduates can take an English major with a creative writing concentration.
Chicago, ILPrivate nonprofit
Columbia College Chicago offers a BA in Creative Writing in its School of Communication and Culture, covering fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and multimedia texts. Students can work on the literary journal Allium and attend the Efroymson Creative Writing Reading Series.
New York, NYPrivate nonprofit
Columbia's School of the Arts runs a 60-point MFA in Writing with concentrations in fiction, nonfiction and poetry and an optional joint course of study in literary translation. Undergraduates can complete a major in Creative Writing as part of the Columbia College Bachelor of Arts.
Ithaca, NYPrivate nonprofit
Cornell's Creative Writing Program in the Department of Literatures in English offers a two-year MFA with a concentration in poetry or fiction and enrolls six MFA students a year. Undergraduates take creative writing as a concentration within the English major or as a minor.
Brooklyn, NYPublic
Brooklyn College offers a two-year, 36-credit MFA in Creative Writing with specializations in fiction, poetry and playwriting, combining workshops, tutorials and literature courses. Students can work on The Brooklyn Review and teach undergraduate English courses.
New York, NYPublic
Hunter College's English department runs a 36-credit MFA in Creative Writing in fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry, with evening classes and one Fall intake a year. Admitted fiction and poetry students receive a tuition waiver equal to in-state tuition; creative nonfiction is not funded.
Boston, MAPrivate nonprofit
Emerson College's Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing offers a BFA in Creative Writing, an on-campus MFA in Creative Writing with concentrations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and an online MFA in Popular Fiction Writing and Publishing. Students can work on the literary journals Ploughshares and Redivider.
Miami, FLPublic
Florida International University's Department of English, in the College of Arts, Sciences & Education, offers a 48-credit MFA in Creative Writing at the Biscayne Bay Campus in Miami. Undergraduates can choose a Creative Writing track within the BA in English.
Tallahassee, FLPublic
Florida State University's Department of English runs a Creative Writing Program that awards an MFA in Creative Writing in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction; doctoral creative writing study takes place inside the department's PhD program. Undergraduates study creative writing as a concentration within the BA in English.
Fairfax, VAPublic
George Mason University's Department of English runs a Creative Writing Program that awards a BFA in Creative Writing and a 48-credit, three-year residential MFA in Creative Writing, both with concentrations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The program is part of Watershed Lit: Center for Literary Engagement and Publishing Practice, and students work with the journals phoebe and So to Speak.