The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a 48-hour degree program for students who wish to become professional writers of poetry, fiction, or drama. It is the minimal academic qualification appropriate for those who wish to teach the craft of writing at the college or university level.
A student desiring to enter the program should present a 30-hour undergraduate major with a grade-point average of at least 3.0 and samples both of writing in the genre in which he or she expects to specialize (fiction and playwriting from 15 to 30 pages, poetry from 10 to 15 pages) and of critical writing about literature. At least twenty hours of the major must be in courses in literature; no more than fifteen of the thirty should be at the freshman-sophomore level. Applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination General Test and forward their scores to the Department of English. Applicants must fill out an application through the Graduate College at www.wmich.edu/apply.
For more detailed information, see the English department's graduate web page: www.wmich.edu/english/academics.
Applicants lacking an undergraduate major but who have at least 20 hours of work in English with a substantial number of courses in literature and who are otherwise judged eligible may be granted admission to the program on condition that they remedy deficiencies in preparation by taking some undergraduate courses as prerequisites.
On admission, students should consult with the graduate director at the earliest opportunity concerning their program of study.
Financial Assistance
Competitive teaching assistantships are awarded each year.