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Key takeaway: A creative writing degree is workshop-based training in original literary work – fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and screenwriting – not workplace writing. At the bachelor’s level it is usually a BA or BFA, or a concentration inside English. At the graduate level the MFA is the terminal artistic degree; the MA is shorter and more academic. The classroom is a workshop: you submit drafts, take critique, and revise. That is a different discipline from professional writing, which trains you to write on assignment for an organization. There is no programmatic accreditor, so institutional accreditation is the check that matters, and admissions often turn on a writing sample. Compare accredited programs below.
The academic core is craft – how a scene, a line, a structure, or a point of view works on a reader – taught by making new work and having it read closely. Around that core, programs layer literature courses, a genre track, and a thesis or capstone manuscript. Accredited online programs generally deliver the same degree titles as campus programs; browse the best accredited online colleges to compare schools that offer them. To find programs near you, see creative writing programs by state.
These accredited schools offer online programs. Request information to compare programs, costs, and formats.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: New England Commission on Higher EducationIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Creative writing graduates publish, freelance, edit, teach, and often combine those with other paid work. The occupations below are commonly associated with creative writing coursework. Median annual wages come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
| Occupation | Median annual wage |
|---|---|
| English Language and Literature Teacher, Postsecondary | $78,760 |
| Editor | $77,920 |
| Writer and Author | $76,910 |
| Occupation | Projected job growth (2024-2034) |
|---|---|
| Writer and Author | 3.6% |
| Editor | 0.6% |
| English Language and Literature Teacher, Postsecondary | 0.0% |
The three occupations share a writing label and not much else. Writers and authors had a median annual wage of $76,910, with the 10th percentile at $44,310, the 25th at $58,230, the 75th at $101,950, and the 90th at $139,870 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). OEWS counted 47,940 wage-and-salary workers in the occupation. The Employment Projections program, which includes self-employed workers, counted 135,400 writers and authors in 2024 and projects 140,300 in 2034, 3.6 percent growth, with 13,400 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). That gap between the two employment counts is the freelance and self-employed share of the work – and freelance income is variable. Editors had a median annual wage of $77,920, with the 10th percentile at $41,250, the 25th at $57,300, the 75th at $106,100, and the 90th at $153,700; OEWS employment was 91,690 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Editor employment is projected to grow 0.6 percent from 2024 to 2034, with 9,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). English language and literature teachers, postsecondary, had a median annual wage of $78,760, with the 10th percentile at $48,270, the 25th at $60,900, the 75th at $103,130, and the 90th at $137,250; OEWS employment was 57,720 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Projected growth is 0.0 percent from 2024 to 2034, with 5,100 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). Teaching creative writing at the college level typically wants an MFA plus publications, and tenure-track jobs are scarce. Individual outcomes vary by employer, geography, specialization, and experience.
A creative writing degree trains you to produce original literary work – fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, or screenwriting – and to revise it under critique. It is taught through the workshop model rather than through client projects, and it is evaluated on craft and artistic merit rather than on whether a document met a workplace specification.
Creative writing develops an individual voice and a body of original work. Professional writing trains you to write on assignment for an audience that is not reading for pleasure, under a house style, a legal review, a product deadline, or a word count you did not set. Both take writing seriously; they train for different work. If you want documentation, editing, proposals, or content strategy as a job, professional writing is the applied path.
The MFA is the terminal artistic degree: a studio program that typically ends in a book-length thesis manuscript. The MA is more academic – more literary study and research, a shorter creative thesis – and is not the credential most colleges expect for teaching creative writing. Compare required course lists and the thesis requirement rather than the diploma text alone.
The manuscript, in most writing jobs. Agents, editors, and hiring managers can read the work, so a strong portfolio or publication record outranks pedigree for most writing roles. The degree is the structured workshop, the deadline, and the revision practice that produce that manuscript. Postsecondary teaching is the main exception: those roles typically want the MFA plus publications.
No. There is no recognized programmatic accreditor for creative writing degrees. Verify that the institution holds accreditation from a recognized institutional accreditor through the U.S. Department of Education database.
Creative writing curricula generally move through three layers, and the first one is more about reading than students expect.
The first layer is craft study. You read as a writer: how a story is structured, how a poem’s lineation carries meaning, how a memoir manages time, how a script puts pressure on a scene. Courses cover form, point of view, character, image, dialogue, and the history of the genres you are trying to enter.
The second layer is the workshop. You submit original work on a deadline. Classmates and the instructor critique it against what the piece is trying to do. You revise. A good workshop is specific – what is landing, what is not, where the piece is hiding from its own subject. A weak workshop is taste dressed up as feedback. When you compare programs, ask how workshop is run, how many times a piece is discussed, and whether the instructor requires written critique with a revision, not only a conversation.
The third layer is genre depth and the manuscript. Common tracks include fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and screenwriting. At the bachelor’s level, expect roughly 120 credits with the creative writing core in the junior and senior years, often as a BA, a BFA, or an English major with a creative writing concentration. At the graduate level, the MFA is a studio degree ending in a thesis manuscript; the MA is more academic. Confirm each school’s credit total and calendar rather than assuming they match.
Online formats still have to solve the workshop problem: written critique, live video workshop, or a low-residency mix with short on-campus residencies. See how online creative writing degrees work before you enroll.
The work splits into a few recognizable shapes, and they are not equally stable.
Writing and authorship is the occupation the degree names: books, poems, scripts, and commercial authorship. OEWS wages describe wage-and-salary workers; Employment Projections employment is higher because it includes the self-employed. That is a real career and a business – submissions, clients, or both – with income that moves.
Editorial work is the most transferable paid skill many graduates actually use. Workshop trains you to say what a draft is doing. If editing is the job, a professional writing or journalism sequence thickens the resume.
Postsecondary teaching of English language and literature, including creative writing, is the academic path. The MFA is typically the minimum artistic credential; publications make an application competitive; tenure-track jobs are scarce. Projected growth for the occupation is 0.0 percent from 2024 to 2034 (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34). The MFA is not a teaching license.
Titles are messy: “writer” and “content writer” can describe unrelated jobs, so read the duties. If the work is documentation, proposals, or brand copy, that is professional writing. Many literary writers earn a living from a mix of teaching, freelance, editing, and other employment. For labor-market context, see the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook. For the job-by-job walkthrough, see what you can do with a creative writing degree.
Creative writing or a related field? Choose creative writing for original literary work in a workshop. Choose professional writing for workplace documents, editing, and content. Consider journalism if reporting and verification are the appeal, liberal arts with an English concentration if you want literary study alongside writing practice, communications for a broader study of how organizations and audiences exchange information, or technical communication if documentation and information design are the job.
Wondering where it leads? See what you can do with a creative writing degree for the jobs and BLS salary data behind the degree, or how to become a writer for the step-by-step path. Compare programs by topic:
