MFA in Creative Writing at Boston University

Programme overview

The MFA in Creative Writing is a small, intensive one-year to one-and-a-half-year program that is completed over two academic semesters plus summer study. The program is designed to help students become better writers of original prose or poetry and to produce readers and critics of the highest quality. Our program also strives to help students improve as creative writing instructors.

Faculty: Graduate School of Arts & Sciences | Study mode: full-time | Location: Boston, MA, United States

What you will study

The MFA is an eight-course, 32-unit degree, including four workshops, four graduate literature courses, and completion of a world language requirement. At least four of the courses taken must be workshops the genre in which the student is admitted (either fiction or poetry). The four remaining courses are normally graduate-level literature courses, some of which may be completed during the BU summer session(s).

Official programme page

Application information

USD 73,024 a year (2026-27). Full-time tuition by enrollment (12-18 credits) for Graduate School of Arts & Sciences PhD & MFA students for 2026-27 ($36,512 per semester; $73,024 for the academic year), as stated on the CAS PhD & MFA cost of attendance page. Tuition only: excludes stu Source

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences master's programmes admit for Fall 2027; Spring 2027 entry is offered for selected programmes (Economics MS programmes, History of Art & Architecture MA, Preservation Studies MA, Online MS in Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence).

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Fall 2027 master's deadlines are mostly priority January 15 and final March 15 (African American & Black Diaspora Studies priority February 15, final March 15; Preservation Studies February 15; Sociology and History of Art & Architecture January 15). Spring 2027 deadlines for selected programmes are priority October 15 and final November 15. Applications are submitted through the online application; the GRE is required only for the Economics MS/MA programmes and the MS in Psychological & Brain Sciences.

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