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 2 of 5
Listed alphabetically by school. This directory is not a ranking — editorial selections are published separately under Rankings. What we list
Roanoke, VAPrivate nonprofit
Hollins University offers a two-year, 49-credit MFA in Creative Writing based at the Jackson Center for Creative Writing, where about twenty students work across poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction in small graduate tutorials. The university also hosts an annual Louis D. Rubin Jr. Writer-in-Residence and the Lex Allen Literary Festival.
Bloomington, INPublic
Indiana University Bloomington's Department of English offers a three-year MFA in Creative Writing in fiction and poetry. Students teach as associate instructors and can work on the student-edited Indiana Review and the summer Indiana University Writers' Conference.
Santa Fe, NMPublic
The Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe offers a four-year undergraduate creative writing program (BFA) and, since 2013, a low-residency MFA in Creative Writing in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction and screenwriting. Both programs emphasize Native American and world literatures; the MFA pairs week-long campus residencies with 16-week online mentorships.
Ames, IAPublic
Iowa State University's Department of English offers a three-year MFA in Creative Writing and Environment that combines creative writing workshops with environmental fieldwork and interdisciplinary coursework outside English. The program is associated with Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment and the Everett Casey Nature Center and Reserve.
Baltimore, MDPrivate nonprofit
The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins offers a two-year MFA in fiction or poetry and an undergraduate Writing Seminars major built on fiction and poetry workshops and readings courses.
Saint Charles, MOPrivate nonprofit
Lindenwood University offers a 48-credit-hour Master of Fine Arts in Writing that can be completed fully online with no residency requirement, with optional emphases in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and young adult/middle grade writing. Undergraduates can study creative writing as an emphasis within the English BA.
Baton Rouge, LAPublic
Louisiana State University's Department of English offers a three-year MFA in Creative Writing that admits about 6-8 students per year across genres and encourages work across fiction, poetry, nonfiction, screenwriting, drama and hybrid forms. MFA students edit their own literary journal, run a reading series and the Delta Mouth Literary Festival. Undergraduate creative writing is a concentration within the English major.
Lake Charles, LAPublic
McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, offers a three-year, 60-credit, in-person MFA in Creative Writing in fiction and poetry, with the option of a concurrent MA in English. MFA students staff The McNeese Review and its online home Boudin.
New York, NYPrivate nonprofit
NYU's Graduate School of Arts and Science offers a 32-credit MFA in Creative Writing in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction, which can also be earned through a low-residency workshop in Paris, and a separate 32-credit MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish run with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
Raleigh, NCPublic
NC State's Department of English offers a two-year, 36-credit MFA in Creative Writing in fiction or poetry, admitting about a dozen students a year. Students take workshops, literature courses, and electives, pass a written craft exam, and complete a book-length thesis. The department sponsors the NC State Literary Readings Series.
Evanston, ILPrivate nonprofit
At Northwestern University, the Department of English in Weinberg College offers an undergraduate Creative Writing Major and the Litowitz MFA+MA program, while the School of Professional Studies offers a part-time, online MFA in Prose and Poetry. The Litowitz MFA is awarded only together with an MA in English.
Oberlin, OHPrivate nonprofit
Oberlin's College of Arts and Sciences offers a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing as an independent major, with coursework in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, translation, screenwriting, and hybrid forms. Students apply to the major after completing prerequisite courses, then take three upper-level workshops, a textual studies requirement, and a capstone project.
Columbus, OHPublic
Ohio State's Department of English offers a three-year MFA in Creative Writing in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction, with all admitted students funded through teaching associateships or Graduate School fellowships. Students can edit The Journal, the university's literary magazine, and work on its annual book prizes.
Corvallis, ORPublic
Oregon State University's School of Writing, Literature, and Film offers a full-residency MFA in Creative Writing in Corvallis, a low-residency MFA in Writing at OSU-Cascades in Bend, and an undergraduate Creative Writing major (BA). The Corvallis MFA states that all admitted students receive a graduate teaching assistantship.
Tacoma, WAPrivate nonprofit
Pacific Lutheran University's Rainier Writing Workshop is a three-year low-residency MFA in Creative Writing in poetry, fiction and nonfiction, built on year-long one-on-one mentorships and four mandatory 10-day summer residencies on the Tacoma campus. Undergraduates can study creative writing as a concentration within the English major.
Forest Grove, ORPrivate nonprofit
Pacific University (Oregon) offers a low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing with ten-day residencies each January in Seaside on the Oregon Coast and each June on the Forest Grove campus, plus an in-person undergraduate Creative Writing major in Forest Grove.
Portland, ORPublic
Portland State University's Creative Writing Program, in the Department of English, awards a BFA and an MFA in Creative Writing in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Graduate students produce the literary journal Portland Review.
Brooklyn, NYPrivate nonprofit
Pratt's Writing Department in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers a four-year BFA in Writing focused on creative writing and ending in a book-length senior thesis, and a two-year, fall-start MFA in Writing built around a weekly Writing Studio, mentorships, and fieldwork residencies. Both programs are based on the Brooklyn campus.
West Lafayette, INPublic
Purdue University's Department of English offers an undergraduate BA in Creative Writing at the West Lafayette campus. The department's MFA program was phased out, ending in Spring 2024, and no longer accepts graduate students.
Charlotte, NCPrivate nonprofit
Queens University of Charlotte offers a two-year, 52-credit low-residency MFA in Creative Writing with concentrations in fiction (including young adult), creative nonfiction, poetry and writing for stage and screen, with week-long residencies in Charlotte or a two-week residency abroad and an online-only track. The English and Writing Studies Department also offers an undergraduate BA in Creative Writing.