University of South Florida

Tampa, FL

http://english.usf.edu/graduate/concentrations/cw/degrees/

School notes

Degrees Offered

MFA

Genres

Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Graphic Novel

Residency type

Full

Program length

2.5–3 years

Financial Aid

We offer all of our accepted MFA students a graduate teaching assistantship that includes a 100-percent tuition remission (less student fees), health insurance coverage, and a stipend of approximately $13,000 per year. 

Teaching opportunities

First-year graduate assistants typically teach a 2/2 load of freshman composition. Second-year and third-year graduate assistants teach beginning-level courses in creative writing. Our teacher training is superb. We are one of the few programs in the country to offer training in creative writing pedagogy, and graduates of our program are well-prepared for the difficult academic job market.

Editorial opportunities

Our MFA students produce USF’s literary journal, Saw Palm, as part of the Literary Editing and Publishing course. The course gives graduate students a chance to gain valuable editorial experience and learn about the publishing industry.

Cross-genre study

The USF MFA program does not require students to apply in a single genre. Most of our students take courses in multiple genres, and some write hybrid work using more than one genre. Other students specialize in a single genre—comics, creative nonfiction, fiction, or poetry. Either way, we encourage students to push boundaries. 

Graduates

Send questions, comments and corrections to info@creativewritingmfa.info.

Disclaimer: No endorsement of these ratings should be implied by the writers and writing programs listed on this site, or by the editors and publishers of Best American Short Stories, Best American Essays, Best American Poetry, The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Pushcart Prize Anthology.