Department of EnglishMFA in Creative Writing

Degree Requirements

The MFA in Creative Writing is a three-year, 61-semester-hour degree, available under a thesis option. The MFA degree may be earned by completion of the thesis in the third year, with 61 credit hours of graduate coursework (18 courses) plus 6 hours of thesis work and 1 hour of FYW pedagogical coursework each semester in year one. MFA students also enroll in the 1-hour Writing Practicum each semester.

Students must complete a thesis proposal by the end of their second year, defend a craft lecture in the fall of their third year, and then complete a thesis defense and reading in their final semester.

Genre Options

While we support multi-genre exploration and hybrid work, students should select a central genre for their MFA in Creative Writing. Genres offered include the following:

• Fiction
• Creative nonfiction
• Poetry
• Literary translation (in any genre)

Each genre involves a common set of core requirements: foundation courses, British, American, and Comparative literature courses, and literary genre courses. MFA students pursuing a degree in literary translation must also demonstrate reading knowledge of one language other than English.