About the MFA in Creative Writing

Degree Prep

Our students arrive as accomplished writers and readers, and while many have not yet published their stories, poems and essays, most will do so during their time in the program. An undergraduate English degree is not mandatory — our students come from diverse cultural, geographical, and artistic backgrounds, and at different times in their professional and personal lives. If you’re ready to write, apply now.

Degree Roadmap

Ours is a three-year program, over the course of which you will work toward assembling a manuscript of publishable quality. In addition to regular studio-based workshops in your given genre, our program requires that 15 credits of literature courses be completed during your time in the program. Some literature courses you might take are:

• Genre-Crossing
• Women and Poetry
• Ecopoetics
• The History of the Short Story
• The History of the Essay
• Prosody

For more information on coursework and requirements, contact Director of Creative Writing Programs, Tobias Wray.

Scholarships

The College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences provides annual scholarship awards totaling approximately $1,600,000. For information on specific scholarships, feel free to meet with a representative from the CLASS Student Services team.

You can find general need- and merit-based scholarships on the Financial Aid Office's scholarships page.

Teaching Assistantships carry value up to $26,000; other departmental scholarships can supplement this by $2,000 or more annually.

Financial Aid

We offer teaching assistantships to all graduate students (each of which comes with a full tuition waiver and a stipend, which for the 2018-2019 academic year is set at $14,000). To find general information about deadlines, scholarships and eligibility requirements, please visit the University of Idaho Financial Aid Office.

To find general information about deadlines, scholarships and eligibility requirements, please visit the University of Idaho Financial Aid Office.

Career information is not specific to degree level. Some career options may require an advanced degree.

Current Job Openings and Salary Range

10,300

in ID, WA, OR, MT and HI

$45K

Entry-Level

$60K

Mid-Level

$116K

Senior-Level

Career Options

• Advertising and Promotions Manager
• English Language and Literature Teacher, Postsecondary
• Public Relations Specialist
• Editor
• Technical Writer
• Copy Writer
• Poet, Lyricist or Creative Writer

Regional Employment Trends

Employment trends and projected job growth in ID, WA, OR, MT & HI

*Job data is collected from national state and private sources.
For more information, visit EMSI's data sources page.