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An online master’s in creative writing is a graduate studio or academic degree for people who want concentrated workshop time, a thesis manuscript, and – in the MFA’s case – the terminal artistic credential used in college teaching searches. Titles vary: MFA in Creative Writing, MA in Creative Writing, MA in English with a creative writing concentration. The MFA is the terminal artistic degree. The MA is more academic. As at the bachelor’s level, the required course list and the thesis requirement tell you more than the diploma text.
This page explains how these programs are structured, who they are actually designed for, how MFA and MA tracks differ, and what to compare across schools.
It is a graduate program that develops advanced practice in original literary work – fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, or screenwriting – through workshop, craft study, and a thesis manuscript, delivered online or in a low-residency mix.
The MFA is the terminal artistic degree: a studio program whose center of gravity is the workshop and a book-length thesis. The MA is more academic, with more literary study and usually a shorter creative thesis. Colleges hiring creative writing faculty typically want the MFA plus publications, not the MA alone.
Usually not. Most programs admit from any undergraduate field. What they weight is the writing sample in the genre of the track you are applying to. A literature paper is the wrong sample for a fiction MFA.
No. Publication, freelance work, and most writing jobs hire on the manuscript. The MFA is time, critique, and a credential. It is typically the minimum artistic degree for teaching creative writing at the college level, and tenure-track jobs are scarce even then.
Calendars vary by school, by MFA versus MA, and by full-time versus part-time enrollment. Confirm total credits, residency weeks if any, and expected time to the thesis with each program rather than assuming a single national timeline.
In an MFA, a substantial manuscript in your genre – a story collection, a novel excerpt or full draft, a book of poems, a memoir or essay collection, or a script – revised under a thesis director. Ask whether that manuscript is yours to submit for publication after graduation, which it almost always should be.
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
| Course Topic | What You Learn |
|---|---|
| Advanced Workshop | Sustained critique of book-length or near-book-length work in your genre |
| Form and Theory | How contemporary and historical work in the genre is built |
| Literature seminars | Reading that supports the thesis rather than a second English MA |
| Pedagogy of creative writing | How workshop is taught; relevant if college teaching is a goal |
| Cross-genre or elective studio | A second genre, translation, or hybrid forms, depending on the program |
| Thesis hours | Directed work toward a manuscript with a faculty director |
| Residency (low-residency formats) | Short on-campus or intensive sessions for workshop, readings, and advising |
Choose the MFA if you want the terminal artistic degree, a studio culture, and the credential most often listed in creative writing teaching ads. Choose the MA if you want graduate literary study with a creative component, a shorter program, or a stepping stone to a PhD in literature – which is a different career from writing a book.
Do not treat an MA as a quiet MFA. Search committees and agents do not. If teaching creative writing is the reason you are applying, read current job ads: they typically want an MFA and a publication record, and tenure-track openings are scarce. Projected growth for English language and literature teachers, postsecondary, is 0.0 percent from 2024 to 2034 (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-34).
Outcomes vary by program, but you can compare:
For pacing and delivery comparisons, see: How Online Creative Writing Degrees Work
Requirements vary by school, but most programs require a completed bachelor’s degree in any field. Common elements include transcripts, a statement of purpose, a resume or CV, letters of recommendation, and – distinctive to this field – a writing sample. The sample is usually the most heavily weighted item. It should be original work in the genre of the track, revised to the best standard you currently have, not a seminar paper and not a workplace document.
Applicants from non-English backgrounds are common. The sample still has to compete. Standardized test scores are often optional. Ask admissions directly what they weigh rather than inferring it from the catalog.
A bachelor’s in creative writing is undergraduate craft training inside a four-year degree. It is not a prerequisite for publication, and it is not a prerequisite for every MFA. A master’s, especially an MFA, is for concentrated studio time, a thesis manuscript, and the terminal artistic credential. It is not a requirement for freelance writing, and freelance income remains variable with or without it.
Compare degree options:
For a value and fit discussion, see: Is an Online Creative Writing Degree Worth It. If the work you want is documentation, proposals, or content strategy, see the Professional Writing Program Guide instead.
Data verified: September 1, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
