About Master’s Program,
The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Vanderbilt is a graduate degree program, combining the workshop/studio study of creative writing with the study of literature, with a particular emphasis on contemporary examples. Students specialize in either prose fiction or poetry. The M.F.A. curriculum is devoted to the development of creative writing skills and expertise, and to immersing the writing student in the lively culture of contemporary literature and letters. A portion of the curriculum is also devoted to the study of canonical literature and creative writers of earlier eras. The Association of Writers and Writing Programs has established professional standards for M.F.A. programs and supports the M.F.A. as the appropriate graduate degree for teaching creative writing at the university level.
The Creative Writing program has been a vital part of the Vanderbilt Department of English for nearly a century. Each year, a small, select class of talented writers of fiction and poetry enroll in Vanderbilt’s three-year, fully-funded M.F.A. in Creative Writing program. We invite you to join us as we continue to build upon the tradition of excellent writing at Vanderbilt.
Our faculty of distinguished creative writers works closely with eighteen M.F.A students—half of whom work in poetry, and half in prose—who are enrolled in the program at any one time. Since each class contains only six students, admission is highly competitive, and no one’s work gets lost or overshadowed.
The M.F.A program has been ranked among the top 15 M.F.A Programs in the country by Poets and Writers magazine, ahead of many better-known graduate programs. We earn high marks for the quality of our prize-winning faculty, for Nashville’s affordable cost of living, and for the financial support we give our students.
Master’s Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
The M.F.A. at Vanderbilt is a three-year program requiring four semesters of graduate work in writing workshops and seminars, the completion of a creative thesis in the student’s primary genre, and a successful oral defense of the thesis.
- Each student must complete 48 hours of graduate coursework, including one workshop and two seminars during each of the first four semesters. Students must take ENGL 7460 (for their genre) during the first year. Two sections are offered annually by MFA faculty members, one in poetry and one in fiction. Students may take 7460 an additional time and in the other genre. Students must take ENGL 7997: Teaching Creative Writing during the spring semester of the first year. The remainder of the coursework each semester will be composed of electives.
- During their third year, students work intensively on a creative thesis. The thesis is a substantial piece of creative writing: a novel, a collection of short stories, or a collection of poems.
- Students also fulfill part-time responsibilities within the department, such as teaching, tutoring, or other creative writing-related activities.
Master’s Funding Coverage,
The University Fellowship for every M.F.A. student in Creative Writing includes full tuition remission, health insurance, and a stipend of $36,500. Additionally, second- and third-year students have the opportunity to teach a beginning creative writing workshop for one semester.
- Graduate School Travel Grants:Up to $1,000 per trip. Graduate students in good standing are eligible to apply for these grants, and may apply for three Graduate School Travel Grants (maximum one per year) over their tenure in the program.
- The Provost’s Graduate Fellowship (PGF):$5,000 annual merit-based topping-up award. This award supplements the student’s base stipend for up to five years (three years initially and renewable for two). The PGF is merit-based and recognizes students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. PGF awards are competitive among applicants to all graduate programs at the University.
Application Requirement,
- Statement of purpose (no more than 3-5 pages)
- Length Requirement for Creative Writing Sample: If your primary interest is fiction, please provide a fiction writing sample, double spaced, of no more than 25 pages—short story or novel excerpt acceptable. If your primary interest is poetry, please provide a poetry sample of up to 15 pages.
- Three letters of recommendation
- Unofficial college transcript(s); admitted applicants will be required to submit official and final transcripts, with prior degrees posted, as a condition of enrollment at Vanderbilt
- Graduate School Application Fee of $95; for details on the application fee and application fee waiver policy, visit the Graduate School’s website
- Applicants whose native language is not English either must have received a degree at an English-speaking university or must submit TOEFL scores. We require a minimum score of 570 on the paper-based test, 230 on the computer-based test, or 88 on the Internet-based test. Note that scores usually take 4-6 weeks to reach the university, so we recommend that you take the test no later than November 1in order to meet the December 1 application deadline. Please send inquiries and your requests for applications to TOEFL, P.O. Box 6151, Princeton, New Jersey, 08541-6151.
- The M.F.A program does not require GRE scores.
Application Deadline,
Dec 01, 2025
Application Fee,
Graduate School Application Fee of $95
