Top mfa writing programs 2010

Likewise, mentoring relationships are difficult to form under even the best of circumstances, particularly because neither faculty member nor incoming student knows the other's personality and temperament in advance. In short, determining whose poetry and fiction and memoir publications you most enjoy yields little information about whose workshops and one-on-one meetings you will find most instructive and inspirational.

Seth Abramson wrote: "Generally speaking, low-residency programs do not offer much if any financial aid, cannot offer teaching opportunities to students, Given that hundreds, surely thousands, of people DO apply to low-residency programs each year, doesn't that suggest that many of the qualities measured in these rankings are unimportant to a significant number of students?

And what is the basis for asserting that low-residency faculties are more star-studded than others? Even if it were true, how would it matter? Finally, don't rankings merely offer a lazy short cut to school selection, perpetuating the myth that some programs are inherently better than others, when prospective students would benefit most by finding the program that is best suited to their individual aims and needs? That's the reason this article did not contemplate low-res programs, in additional to the reasons already stated in the article.

Assessing low-residency programs and their applicants would be an entirely different project, requiring a different assessment rubric as well as--as the article implicitly acknowledges--a different series of first principles about applicant values. As to the rankings that are here, keep in mind that what you're seeing is an abbreviated version. The full version, available either in the upcoming print edition or as an e-book available for purchase on this site , includes data categories for each school: duration, size, funding scheme, cost of living, teaching load, curriculum focus studio or academic.

These are some of the most important "individual aims and needs" the hundreds and hundreds of MFA applicants I've spoken with over the past three years have referenced. Needless to say, many applicants will have "individual aims and needs" that they need to consider in making their matriculation decision, and I always urge them to look to those needs with the same fervor they consider as they do funding, reputation, location, and so on. But to imply these rankings haven't done the necessary footwork to ask applicants what their primary aims and needs are is simply incorrect.

In fact, in the poll referenced above applicants were given the opportunity to vote for "none of the above"--meaning, they were invited to say that their top consideration in choosing a school was something other than the six categories referenced above. So when we speak casually of "individual aims and needs," I think we need to remember that these aims and needs are no longer as unknowable as they once were--largely due to efforts like the one that produced these rankings.

And again, for those who don't see their own aims and needs reflected in the data chart that accompanies this ranking and which you haven't seen yet , I say--as I always say--that these rankings and this data should be used only as a starting point for making an intensely personal and particularized decision.

Take care, Seth. I should say, too, that the poll I mentioned above is just one of many. A graduate of Harvard Law School and the Iowa Writers' Workshop I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but you have to realize how suspicious this looks.

Hi Clairels, I'd respond to your comment, but honestly I have absolutely no idea what you mean to imply or what your concern is. I attended both those programs J. Take care, S. I think it was the reference to HLS that threw me. In three years of running MFA polls I'll say that I think you're the first person to suggest to me even indirectly that Iowa might have finished first in the poll for any reason other than that it finished first in the poll to no one's surprise.

So no, I can't say that I see my affiliation with the IWW--an affiliation I share with thousands of poets Iowa graduates poets every decade is "suspicious. Since Seth Abramson is considering cost of living and funding, I think he should consider another, really huge factor: Does the school offer health insurance?

There are some very highly ranked CUNY programs. Yes, CUNY is cheap, but there is no health insurance. If you really want to commit to a writing program, you don't really have time for a full-time job with health benefits. Health insurance was a big factor in my selection, and I'm sure it is for many others as well. Special Section. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4. Comments Seth Abramson wrote: "Generally speaking, low-residency programs do not offer much if any financial aid, cannot offer teaching opportunities to students, So of course it was regarded as the top program then--among one.

Not arguing about anything else, promise; the way that fact was dropped just seemed potentially misleading. Hi SJ, Sorry for any confusion--my point was not that Iowa is considered the top program because it was founded in , but rather that it has been considered the top program since It's had that position across years of various polls, rankings, and articles for many reasons, and certainly longevity has played a part--more alumni mean more alumni "successes," for instance, particularly during those decades in which there was less competition with other MFA programs--but it's obviously much more complicated than a simple matter of temporality or history.

It's worth noting that these rankings are among the first if not the first rankings to not implicitly or explicitly indicate that the IWW is the top program in all respects. That is, the IWW is not ranked even in the top 20 here in annual funding, total funding, or selectivity.

To the extent these rankings were directly inspired by research done by Tom Kealey in and I think Kealey's implied rankings were indeed the first to point out Iowa's varying strengths in different areas , I do consider this ranking to have treated the IWW in a considerably less sacrosanct manner than previous rankings.

Best, Seth. How exactly were the "selective rates" for each school determined on this list? And Seth, there was a link on one of your blogs that listed the acceptance rates for some programs, but the link is dead.

Three years in an AIER-rated top 15 "mid-size metro" with a strong faculty, reasonable teaching load, and vibrant university community deserves a look from any applicant. Old Dominion University. When U. And not for nothing, it's located right on Chesapeake Bay in Norfolk.

Pennsylvania State University. Who knew State College was the 2 college town in America? Maybe AIER's onto something: full funding for all, and yet almost no one applies. That's changing. Purdue University. Three years in a college town recently named one of the ten "smartest" by Forbes , and ranked just outside the top 10 college towns by AIER?

A reasonable teaching load, low cost of living, and highly-regarded faculty? Yes please. Southern Illinois University. Top 15 in Funding, top 25 in Poetry, top 40 in Selectivity, three years, a low cost of living, and a vibrant, aesthetically-eclectic writing community. University of Arkansas. One of two four-year MFA programs in the world, and it's fully funded for all. It's been around nearly a half-century and has an optional focus on translation you can find hardly anywhere else.

University of California at San Diego. A new program, but it's at a highly-regarded public university and it's already developing a reputation for being open to experimental poetry and fiction. University of Colorado at Boulder. Located in the 1 "small city" in America according to AIER, the program in Boulder is particularly welcoming to experimental poets and writers; only a handful of MFAs can claim that.

University of Houston. Houston's making a comeback: Both city and MFA. With recent hires enhancing the diversity of the faculty, the opportunity to workshop with the nation's top creative writing doctoral students, and a history of excellence in the field, Houston's worth a look.

You're asked to teach a ton, but for many, that experience is worthwhile too. University of Kansas. Three years, well-funded, a light teaching load, and one of the few U. And did you know Lawrence, Kansas is deemed a top 10 college town nationally?

It's a great university in a great city, and it deserves -- and has -- a great, well-funded MFA program. If you're looking for a fully-funded-for-all MFA experience in a big city and there are only around five such experiences available nationally , you've found your place.

University of New Orleans. The Big Easy is coming back -- in a big way. Many students get full funding, you can take classes in screenwriting and playwriting as well as poetry and fiction, and there are summer programs available in both Europe and Mexico. There's much to be excited about here. University of Texas at Austin [Department of English]. The program at the Michener Center is already one of the most well-known and highly-selective in America; what many don't realize, however, is that the MFA run by the university's English Department is also fully funded -- albeit less generously -- and its students get to workshop alongside Michener faculty and students.

Plus, it's in Austin, as happening a college city as one could hope for. You can expect this program to crack the national Top 50 sometime in the next 24 to 36 months, but for now it's still a hidden gem. No other university in America except the University of Iowa, which offers both the Writers' Workshop and the Nonfiction Writing Program has two separate and distinct MFA programs, though the difference between Iowa and Texas is that both of Iowa's programs are incredibly selective.

Applicants looking to slip into a Michener-grade experience through the back door should take the hint. University of Utah. Back in , the creative writing program at Utah was ranked in the Top 20 nationally -- largely due to a creative writing doctoral program that still ranks among the Top It's a mystery why the MFA program at Utah now ranked isn't more popular, given that almost a third of incoming students are fully funded, everyone gets to workshop with some of the best creative writing doctoral students in the world, and Salt Lake City is by all accounts a surprisingly nice and surprisingly progressive place to live for a couple years.

The literary arts community here deserves much more attention than it's getting from applicants. Virginia Commonwealth University. For years now VCU has been in and out of the national Top 50 -- it depends on the year -- but in a just world it would consistently be on the inside looking out.

And it has nothing to do with the spotlight recently shone on Richmond by the successes of two of its college basketball programs VCU made the Final Four in , and University of Richmond the Sweet No, what's happening here is that a three-year, well-funded program in a Top 15 mid-size metro according to AIER is being overlooked. This should be a perennial Top 50 program, and someday soon it will be.

Western Michigan University. Kalamazoo is a larger and more vibrant college town than many realize, and now that -- as word has it -- the MFA program at WMU is seeking only to admit students it can fully fund much like North Carolina State, above , applying to be a Bronco just seems like good sense.

As with some other programs on this list Florida State, Utah, and, to a lesser extent, Oklahoma State students at Western Michigan get to workshop with some of the nation's most talented MFA graduates -- the creative writing doctoral program at the university is ranked among the top dozen nationally. Perhaps that's why student satisfaction here appears to be so high?

WMU is knocking on the door of an Honorable Mention classification in the national rankings, and if it goes public with its plan to become fully funded it will achieve that classification and perhaps even more -- a Top 50 designation, too.

West Virginia University. They've been cagey about their funding in the past, but reports are that the funding is actually excellent and that the program's annual applicant pool is swelling. It'd be hard to argue that the program should be ranked much higher than it is -- it makes the Top 60 nationally in the forthcoming national rankings -- but it still isn't spoken of as much as you'd expect.

Wichita State University. The graduate creative writing program perhaps best known for being the place Albert Goldbarth teaches at has enjoyed a sudden bump in the rankings, from just outside the Top to just inside the Top And the ride may well continue; there's still relatively little competition for admission to WSU , a real surprise given that this is a well-funded three-year program with a light teaching load.

Applicants to these and, really, all programs need to know precisely what percentage of incoming students receive the equivalent of a full tuition waiver and a livable stipend, as well as see some hard data on how selective their target programs are. Until that happens, most of these programs will continue to be unjustly underrated rather than justly highly-ranked.

And, not for nothing, nearly all of these programs with a few notable exceptions: Florida State, Iowa State, Ohio State, Oregon State, University of Arkansas, University of Miami, and University of Texas at Austin, all fully funded programs could do with even more full-funding packages for incoming students. For those keeping count, this is the second year this list has been compiled. Last year's list can be found here. Feel free to discuss these and other programs in the comments section below.

Funding data for these programs is still under review to determine whether they will be readmitted to the list in the future]. Main Menu U.