About Master’s Program,
The MFA Program at Wash U is a two-year program where thirty students are working toward MFA degrees in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. Entry into the program is competitive—out of hundreds of applications received, we accept fifteen students (five each in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction). Our students come from all over the US and around the world, with a diversity of writing styles that continues to surprise us.
The two-year program is rigorous and challenging but fosters a close-knit community of support that continues long after degrees have been granted. At the heart of the program are the fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry workshops, with craft courses in all genres, access to the department’s courses in literature, and many other courses in the College of Arts & Sciences also available to MFA students. Students may also take graduate courses from other departments when appropriate to their creative endeavors.
Collectively, our world-renowned faculty have written and translated and edited dozens of books in all genres and have won fellowships and awards such as the Guggenheim, Whiting, Book Critics Circle Prize, NEA Fellowships, and many others. Our program is geared toward developing our students’ full potential as writers through core genre workshops, craft classes, individual meetings and an event series that brings renowned national and international writers to campus. Our close partnerships with the Center for the Literary Arts, Dorothy and the Modern Literature Collection at Olin Library provide a multitude of additional resources for our students.
Our alumni have gone on to publish an astounding array of literature in all genres, with large and independent publishers and in a multitude of literary journals. They have also received such as The Whiting, NEA, and National Book Award, and fellowships including the MacDowell Fellowship, and Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship.
Our reading series brings a diverse group of poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers to the department, and the Hurst Professor program brings distinguished visitors each year to present their newest work, lecture on the craft of writing, and work one-on-one with our MFA students.
We are happy to tell you more about our MFA program! Feel free to contact the program director, David Schuman (dschuman@wustl.edu) or the assistant director, Shannon Rabong (scrabong@wustl.edu), with your questions.
Master’s Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
We encourage and give full consideration to all applicants for admission. Applicants to graduate programs must earn the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree prior to the application semester.
Admission is based on the strength of the entire application and not a single element such as test scores or GPA. Obtaining a specific test score or GPA neither occludes nor guarantees admission. Therefore, we do not have published minimum GPA or GRE score requirements.
Master’s Funding Coverage,
We are proud to not only offer our students among the most substantial stipends of any Writing Program in the country, but to provide full and equal funding to every student we accept. We feel this contributes substantially to the sense of fairness and collegiality in our workshops. Both years in the program are funded by an A&S Fellowship. In 2023-24, the value of full tuition remission is $57,750, and the A&S Fellowship stipend is $28,152 for 12 months.
There are also three highly competitive university-wide fellowships which Writing Program students are urged to apply for separately. (The only students in the Writing Program who receive a different level of support are those who win these fellowships.)
The Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Arts & Sciences have been created to enhance the recruitment of and to recognize some of our most outstanding incoming graduate students. This program will support incoming PhD and MFA students with the promise of exceptional academic distinction; with a demonstrated interest to advance the public good; and who will contribute to the diversity and intellectual vitality of our university community. The primary intent of the program is to support the recruitment of outstanding candidates and help departments make a compelling offer to their best applicants.
Application Requirement,
- Application Fee
- Applicant Information Form
- Transcripts
- 3 Letters of Recommendation
- Statement of Purpose
- Writing Sample
- Curriculum Vitae
Typed manuscripts should consist of 6 to 12 poems or up to 35 double-spaced pages of fiction or nonfiction. The statement of purpose (or personal statement) should be 2-3 double-spaced pages. Please note the decision-making committees admit students and decide on financial aid without regard to gender, sexual orientation, age, race, color, creed, national origin, or disability.
Please note that, following the Office of Graduate Studies’ policies, we very rarely accept students who have already received an MFA from another institution, even if the applicant is applying in a different genre.
Application Deadline,
Dec 01, 2025
Application Fee,
The application fee for graduate programs in Arts & Sciences is $45.
- Fees are payable by credit card or electronic-check issued from a United States banking institution.
