About Master’s Program,
Our alumni have gone on to further graduate study in English, to careers in editing and publishing and to positions in academia. They have received awards such as the Olive B. O’Connor Fellowship at Colgate and the Emory University Creative Writing Fellowship, won national prizes like the Iowa Award for Poetry and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Prize for Nonfiction and published books with Autumn House Press, Carnegie Mellon University, 42 Miles Press, Ohio University Press, University of Georgia Press, University Press of New England and William Morrow/Harper Collins, among others.
WVU’s MFA graduates have published in hundreds of literary journals, including prestigious venues such as AGNI, Southern Review, Gettysburg Review, Field, Prairie Schooner, Tar River Poetry, Ninth Letter, Northwest Review, Missouri Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Sewanee Review, The Journal, 32 Poems, Georgetown Review, Controlled Burn, Colorado Review, Pank, Malahat Review, Mid-American Review, The New York Times, Paste, Times, Chelsea, Washington Square, Laurel Review, Slant, New Orleans Review, and in the anthology Layers of Possibility: Healing Poetry. Recent MFA students have won Intro Prizes sponsored by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs and the GreenTower Press’s chapbook prize and have published book-length collections of poetry and fiction. Recent graduates have won honors such as the Iowa Poetry Prize and the Walt Whitman Award.
Master’s Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,
The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program admits students with a bachelor’s degree, usually in English but sometimes in other fields. An applicant to the M.F.A. program is admitted based on his or her academic record, three letters of recommendation from former teachers or others familiar with the applicant’s writing, a sample of the applicant’s creative writing (poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction), and a personal statement explaining what the applicant expects to accomplish in WVU’s M.F.A. Program as well as whether the applicant would like to be considered for a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) position and, if so, why the applicant would be a successful teacher. No teaching experience is necessary to become a GTA.
Non-native English speakers must present TOEFL scores of at least 550 for the written exam or at least 213 for the on-line version.
Master’s Funding Coverage,
The Master of Fine Arts at West Virginia University is a three-year program that combines work in a primary genre and at least one other genre with course offerings in literature, pedagogy and professional writing and editing. Genres include fiction, nonfiction and poetry. All Master of Fine Arts students receive a full tuition waiver and an assistantship, which includes a stipend valued at $16,750.
Application Requirement,
- Graduate Admission Application
- Writing Sample (10 to 15 pages of poetry; 20 to 30 pages of fiction; 20 to 30 pages of creative nonfiction)
- Personal Statement (500-750 words)
- Three Letters of Recommendation
- We do not require or consider GRE scores.
- Applicants are encouraged to submit their application with unofficial transcripts from all previously attended institutions. Submitting unofficial transcripts speeds up the application review process as most graduate programs make admission decisions using unofficial transcripts. If you are offered acceptance, you are required to submit official transcripts from all previously attended institutions to be fully admitted into your intended graduate program. You will not be able to register for classes until the official transcripts are received. (https://graduateadmissions.wvu.edu/how-to-apply/apply-for-2020-2021/first-time-graduate-applicant)
- The preferred method to submit your official transcripts is through a secure, online service such as eScript, The National Clearing House, or Parchment, to graduateadmissions@mail.wvu.edu. Alternatively, if you are unable to submit an electronic version of your official transcript, the physical, sealed, un-tampered with documents can be mailed to: WVU Graduate Admissions, P.O. Box 6510, Morgantown, WV 26506 OR WVU Graduate Admissions, 1 Waterfront Pl, 2nd Fl, Morgantown, WV 26501
For additional information about the M.F.A. Program, please contact Professor Mark Brazaitis, Coordinator of Creative Writing.
Application Deadline,
Jan 15, 2026
Application Fee,
Pay the $60 application fee*
