Admission to the M.F.A. Program


Master of Fine Arts Courses (six-month mentored courses)

MFA 510 Graduate Fiction Workshop I
MFA 511 Graduate Fiction Workshop II
MFA 520 Graduate Nonfiction Workshop I
MFA 521 Graduate Nonfiction Workshop II
MFA 512 Graduate Fiction Workshop III
MFA 513 Graduate Fiction Workshop IV
MFA 522 Workshop Nonfiction Graduate III
MFA 523 Graduate Nonfiction Workshop IV

Residency requirements

  • August -the summer residency is on campus briefly and on Star Island for the balance of the ten days.
  • February- on line and at the Mountain View Grand Hotel

The M.F.A. is a cohort model program. The cohort will consist of no more than 25 students. Students wishing to be considered for the 2010 winter residency must apply prior to Nov. 6, 2009 deadline; students wishing to be considered for the summer 2010 residency must apply prior to April 5, 2010. The M.F.A. does not admit students on a rolling basis.

Admission Criteria:

  • Submit completed application by Nov. 6, 2009, or April 5, 2010.
  • Minimum GPA of 3.0.
  • Preferred B.A. in a humanities discipline, but all qualified applicants will be reviewed.
  • No graduate exams required.

Materials to forward to the graduate admissions office:

  • Completed graduate application online or printed graduate application (PDF 68 kb) with $40 application fee.
  • All college transcripts
  • An 800- to 1,000-word personal statement describing your writing experience and your commitment to writing. Please include your assessment of why you are a good candidate for the M.F.A. program.
  • 30 pages of manuscript, double-spaced and numbered in the genre (fiction/nonfiction) you plan to study.
  • three letters of recommendation from those capable of assessing your preparation to succeed in a low-residency M.F.A. program in writing.

Accepted students for the February 2010 residency must submit a $300 non-refundable deposit by December 1, 2009 in order to secure a spot in the February cohort.


Those students accepted for the summer 2010 cohort must submit a $300 non-refundable deposit by April 26, 2010 in order to secure a spot for the summer 2010 residency.


The deposit will be applied to the first term tuition fee.