About PhD Program,
In the late 1970s, poets Cynthia MacDonald and Stanley Plumly were named co-chairs of the Southwest’s first graduate writing program, one that received an even greater boost when New Yorker writer (and UH alum) Donald Barthelme joined the faculty in 1983.
Over the years many more internationally acclaimed writers have made the Program their home, including Mary Gaitskill, Richard Howard, Howard Moss, Linda Gregg, Adam Zagajewski, Daniel Stern, David Wojahn, Edward Hirsch, Alan Hollinghurst, Mark Strand, David Wagoner, Philip Levine, Charles Wright, Claudia Rankine, Kimiko Hahn, Mark Doty and Ruben Martinez.
Current faculty includes Erin Belieu, Robert Boswell, Audrey Colombe, Chitra Divakaruni, Nick Flynn, francine j. harris, Antonya Nelson, Alex Parsons, Kevin Prufer, Brenda Peynado, Martha Serpas, Roberto Tejada, and Peter Turchi.
PhD Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
- A. degree (for M.F.A.); M.A. in English or M.F.A. in Creative Writing (for Ph.D.)
- 0 GPA in undergraduate studies (for M.F.A.); 3.5 GPA in graduate studies (for Ph.D.)
- The score on the TOEFL is a requirement.
- The GRE is no longer required as part of the graduate application for Creative Writing.
PhD Funding Coverage,
The Creative Writing Program works hard to provide financial support to all of its students. This year, the average financial package for incoming M.F.A. students was more than $90,000 over 3 years, including tuition remission. The average financial package for incoming Ph.D. students was more than $153,00 over 5 years, including tuition remission.
Teaching Assistantships
Through the Department of English, the Creative Writing Program (CWP) is pleased to be able to offer teaching assistantships to qualified applicants admitted to its M.F.A. and Ph.D. programs.
The English Department offers employment stipends for graduate assistantships. These generally require 20 hours per week of work supporting faculty instruction. For students who are not Texas residents, these assistantships provide eligibility for a waiver of the non-resident portion of program tuition.
According to University of Houston employment rules, graduate assistants are classified as student employees. Student employees may work 50 percent FTE or less during the regular academic session and up to 100 percent FTE during break periods (i.e., between academic semesters, summers and holidays). The Univeristy of Houston SAM policy on types of staff employment is available online for review.
M.F.A. students can receive a teaching assistantship for 3 years (6 long semesters); Ph.D. students can receive a teaching assistantship for 5 years (10 long semesters).
For M.F.A. students the teaching load is 2/2 the first two years (which includes year 1 facilitation) and 2/1 the final year. Salary for first-year M.F.A.s is $18,235.89 for 9 months. For CWP Ph.D.s the teaching load is 2/2 the first four years (which includes year 1 facilitation) and 2/0 or 0/0 the final year. Salary for first-year Ph.D.s is $20,448.36 for 9 months.
All first-year teaching assistants in the Department of English will facilitate rather than teach courses. In this context, facilitate means that the TAs manage designated Blackboard forums in which the TAs interact regularly and asynchronously with undergraduate students. Facilitators do not grade the students’ writing in Blackboard forums, but guide and support the students, offering strategic feedback.
As part of the assistantship, students are awarded either a Graduate Tuition Fellowship, which remits tuition, or a Creative Writing Program Fellowship, which covers the cost of tuition. The tuition remission/coverage is guaranteed for all 3 years of the M.F.A. teaching assistantship and for the full 5 years of the Ph.D. teaching assistantship.
We make a serious effort to locate a teaching assistantship for all who apply and seek such an assistantship.
Fellowships
Students in the Creative Writing Program have a number of fellowships available to them. For example, Inprint, a Houston literary arts nonprofit, provides fellowships to students admitted to the graduate creative writing program, and sponsors an annual student competition that awards 3 fellowships of $10,000 (one in fiction, one in poetry, and one for literary community service), 1 fellowship of $5,000 (nonfiction), and 4 fellowships of $2,500 (two in fiction, and two in poetry). In addition, the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English can nominate incoming students with exceptional records for UH Presidential Fellowships, and there are a limited number of Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center Fellowships and African American Creative Writing Fellowships, among others. Smaller fellowships to cover costs associated with conferences and residency are also provided at the Director’s discretion, based on the availability of funds.
For comprehensive creative writing fellowship/scholarship information, please see our fellowship guidelines overview.
Ph.D. students may also see the financial opportunities available to all English Department Ph.D. students.
Application Requirement,
- Online applicationand application fee.
- Three letters of recommendation from people who can assess your writing skills (often a former professor). Letters will be solicited by the UH Admissions Office and submitted electronically.
- Unofficial transcripts (with degrees posted) may be uploaded with your online application. If you are accepted, you will need to send official academic transcripts (sealed in the issuing envelope) from every university or college you have attended. Official transcripts should be sent directly to the UH Graduate Admissions Office (University of Houston, Graduate Admissions, P.O. Box 3947, Houston, TX 77253-3947 or electronically to gradschool@uh.edu.)
- An original creative manuscript (maximum 10 pages of poetry or 20 – 25 pages of fiction). Fiction manuscripts should be double-spaced, on numbered, single-sided pages: poetry can be single-spaced and formatted as desired. Note: Submitting more than the recommended amount is strongly discouraged and could adversely affect the evaluation process.
- A critical manuscript (Ph.D. Candidates only). Provide a scholarly paper written for a literature course.
- Your Statement of Intent. In 1,000 words or less, state why you wish to pursue graduate study in creative writing: which writers in your genre you are reading and their import to you and your work: and whether you have taught before and intend to pursue teaching as a career.
- The University of Houston Graduate School requires demonstration of proficiency in English for all applicants, regardless of citizenship status. Please visit their websitefor a list of ways this requirement may be met.
Application Deadline,
Jan 15, 2025
Application Fee,
Application fees are $50 for domestic applicants, $80 for international applicants and $25 for non-degree (Certificate based programs).
