Rankings

This is an attempt at creating an objective ranking of graduate creative writing programs.

For further and more detailed information on how the scores are generated see the methodology page.

The List

Program	Overall score	Fiction score	Poetry score	CNF score	Genres	Degrees	State
Johns Hopkins University	11975	11850	7600	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	MD
University of Virginia	10600	13100	8100	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	VA
Iowa Writers Workshop	8565	10433	3994	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	IA
University of Arizona	7766	9350	2600	12350	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	AZ
Florida State University	7433	3600	3600	433	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama	MFA, PhD	FL
Indiana University	7281	7100	7500	0	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	IN
Ohio State University	6975	1537	2350	3662	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	OH
University of Texas, James Michener Center	6850	5433	2100	350	Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	TX
University of Florida	5372	9300	2100	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	FL
University of Houston	5350	2725	1850	1662	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA, PhD	TX
University of Minnesota	5183	8100	2100	5350	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	MN
University of Iowa	4933	100	100	4933	CNF	MFA, PhD	IA
University of Southern California	4900	7100	3433	0	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	PhD	CA
Arizona State University	4725	3600	1225	225	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	AZ
University of Wisconsin Madison	4600	3766	1100	266	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama	MFA	WI
University of Pittsburgh	4433	655	988	2988	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	PA
Syracuse University	4433	5433	2766	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	NY
Boston University	4322	4700	3350	0	Fiction, Poetry, Drama	MFA	MA
Warren Wilson College	4272	4100	4516	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	NC
Ohio University	4225	1433	4100	7100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, PhD	OH
University of Michigan	3736	2236	1372	327	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	MI
University of Idaho	3544	1766	3433	5433	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	ID
University of California Irvine	3516	2433	1100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	CA
Purdue University	3475	1975	1475	225	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	IN
University of North Carolina Greensboro	3350	3266	3433	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	NC
Cornell University	3211	1877	988	544	Fiction, Poetry	MFA, PhD	NY
Brown University	3023	2330	484	407	Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Multimedia	MFA	RI
University of Mississippi	2850	1225	1600	225	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	MS
University of New Mexico	2850	975	225	1850	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NM
University of Oregon	2800	1400	1500	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	OR
University of Nebraska Lincoln	2787	1537	662	975		MA, PhD	NE
University of Southern Mississippi	2736	3671	1100	0	Fiction, Poetry	MA, PhD	MS
University of Cincinnati	2600	1600	1100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, PhD	OH
Vanderbilt University	2600	1600	1100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	TN
Southern Illinois University Carbondale	2350	1600	3100	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	IL
University of Montana	2322	2475	1933	2600	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	MT
University of Massachusetts Amherst	2300	2322	1900	6100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	MA
Bennington College	2300	980	220	1300	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	VT
Northern Michigan University	2266	766	100	1600	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	MI
Hollins University	2266	1766	433	350	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	VA
Virginia Commonwealth University	2225	433	3350	3100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	VA
Brooklyn College	2143	3028	544	0	Fiction, Poetry, Drama	MFA	NY
Western Michigan University	2016	850	1100	266	Fiction, Poetry	MFA, PhD	MI
Iowa State University	2000	1200	600	1400	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama	MFA	IA
University of Washington	2000	500	1000	700	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	WA
Notre Dame University	2000	2100	1900	0	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	IN
Bowling Green State University	2000	1300	500	400	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	OH
Washington University St Louis	1966	633	1233	300	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	MO
Boise State University	1900	1900	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	ID
Florida International University	1850	2700	850	1766	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	FL
University of Utah	1808	558	850	641	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA, PhD	UT
University of Nevada Las Vegas	1800	3300	300	0	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA, PhD	NV
University of Missouri St Louis	1700	2300	1100	0	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	MO
Vermont College of Fine Arts	1700	483	316	1216	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA	MFA	VT
University of Wyoming	1655	1655	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	WY
California State University Fresno	1638	100	100	5100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	CA
University of Colorado	1600	1300	200	500	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	CO
Louisiana State University	1600	975	475	350	Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	LA
University of Alabama	1600	750	250	950	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	AL
New York University	1583	816	750	250	Fiction, Poetry	MA, MFA	NY
Virginia Tech	1544	100	100	1544	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	VA
University of California Davis	1516	933	683	100	Fiction, Poetry	MA	CA
Emerson College	1500	611	166	922	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	MA
University of Maryland, College Park	1475	100	1350	225	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	MD
University of Arkansas	1457	742	814	171	Fiction, Poetry, Translation	MFA	AR
Columbia University	1455	818	492	381	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NY
Rutgers University Camden	1433	1933	100	1766	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NJ
University of South Carolina	1433	2100	1433	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	SC
Colorado State University	1433	516	266	850	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, MFA	CO
University of Texas Austin	1385	814	671	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	TX
University of New Hampshire	1377	655	155	766	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NH
Oregon State University	1314	671	100	742	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	OR
West Virginia University	1300	100	500	900	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	WV
University of Illinois	1266	1266	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	IL
University of New Orleans	1133	766	233	333	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	LA
Eastern Washington University	1100	1100	850	1600	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	WA
Texas Tech University	1100	306	548	962	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, PhD	TX
University of Miami	1100	1100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	FL
Western Kentucky University	1100	100	100	1100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Screenwriting	MFA	KY
Rutgers University Newark	1100	1037	162	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	NJ
University of Missouri Columbia	1074	535	458	279	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, PhD	MO
University of North Carolina Wilmington	1054	327	236	690	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NC
Butler University	1016	100	1766	3100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	IN
Spalding University	1013	484	700	2700	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA, Drama, Screenwriting	MA, MFA	KY
Sarah Lawrence College	1007	484	376	346	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NY
New Mexico State University	1000	1000	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MA, MFA	NM
University of South Florida	988	2766	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Graphic Novel	MFA	FL
McNeese State University	975	850	225	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	LA
University of Southern Maine	969	366	1242	3211	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Popular Fiction	MFA	ME
Florida Atlantic University	957	1300	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	FL
University of Alaska Fairbanks	957	385	100	671	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	AK
University of Toronto	933	100	100	272	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama	MA	ON
San Francisco State University	910	559	343	289	Fiction, Poetry	MA, MFA	CA
University of California Riverside	877	488	322	266	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	CA
Western Washington University	850	350	100	2600	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	WA
George Mason University	824	742	322	1766	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	VA
University of Denver	824	617	272	134	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	PhD	CO
American University	766	433	350	266	Fiction, Poetry, Screenwriting	MFA	DC
Miami University	766	2100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	OH
Hunter College	766	711	100	155	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NY
Georgia State University	766	700	166	366	Fiction, Poetry	MA, MFA, PhD	GA
Texas State University	750	600	100	250	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	TX
San Jose State University	725	100	100	1350	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	CA
University of California San Diego	725	725	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	CA
SUNY Binghamton	720	237	444	410	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA	MA, PhD	NY
North Carolina State University	715	330	484	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	NC
New School University	668	257	268	342	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA	MFA	NY
Queens University of Charlotte	611	500	100	211	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	NC
Sam Houston State University	600	100	600	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	TX
Queens College	600	1100	100	0	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Translation	MFA	NY
Georgia College and State University	544	100	100	1433	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	GA
Ashland University	540	100	100	540	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	OH
Mills College	528	850	528	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	CA
Pacific Lutheran University	525	300	200	225	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	WA
Temple University	516	516	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	PA
Wichita State University	500	500	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	KS
Brigham Young University	500	100	100	500	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	UT
Northeast Ohio Consortium	500	300	100	300	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	OH
Northwestern University	500	100	100	500	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, MFA	IL
Minnesota State University Mankato	488	322	100	266	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	MN
Converse College	475	100	100	475	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	SC
University of Illinois at Chicago	466	300	200	166	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, PhD	IL
University of British Columbia	463	100	100	372	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA, Drama, Screenwriting, Translation, Lyric and libretto, Radio drama, Graphic Novel	MFA	BC
School of the Art Institute of Chicago	460	300	100	260	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	IL
Antioch University	446	266	433	725	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA	MFA	CA
Seattle Pacific University	433	100	100	433	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	WA
Pine Manor College	433	100	433	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	MA
University of Alaska Anchorage	433	100	100	433	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	AK
Goddard College	433	200	166	233	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA, Drama, Screenwriting, Graphic Novel	MFA	VT
Chicago State University	400	100	100	400	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	IL
NYU Writers Workshop in Paris	400	400	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	NY
Old Dominion University	400	700	1100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	VA
University of Tennessee	366	166	300	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA, PhD	TN
Goucher College	366	100	100	366	CNF	MFA	MD
University of North Texas	366	144	100	322	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, PhD	TX
New England College	366	100	366	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	NH
Hamline University	360	100	220	220	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA	MFA	MN
Columbia College	350	127	100	322	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	IL
Penn State University	341	306	100	134	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	PA
University of Georgia	341	341	100	203	Fiction, CNF	MFA, PhD	GA
University of New Brunswick	341	341	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, Drama	MA, PhD	New Brunswick
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee	340	160	220	160	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, PhD	WI
Portland State University	340	340	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	OR
University of San Francisco	335	129	100	305	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	CA
Institute of American Indian Arts	333	133	100	300	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Screenwriting	MFA	NM
Pacific University	320	200	200	120	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	OR
Northern Arizona University	314	100	100	850	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA	AZ
University of Louisiana Lafayette	306	100	100	306		MA, PhD	LA
Chico State University	306	100	306	306	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama	MFA	CA
Western Colorado University	306	100	306	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, MFA	CO
New College of California	306	100	306	100			CA
Sierra Nevada College	300	100	100	300	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NV
Chatham University	300	200	900	500	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA	MA, MFA	PA
California Institute of the Arts	300	150	150	200	Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Multimedia	MFA	CA
Fairleigh Dickinson University	300	100	100	300	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA, Translation	MFA	NJ
Fairfield University	273	100	100	600	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	CT
Concordia University Montreal	272	272	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, Drama	MA	Québec
Bard College	272	100	272	100	Fiction, Poetry, Multimedia	MFA	NY
City College of New York	266	227	139	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	NY
Stonybrook University	260	260	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	NY
University of Saskatchewan	242	100	100	242	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	SK
St Mary's College of California	242	242	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	CA
Oklahoma State University	237	433	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA, PhD	OK
Mississippi State University	237	100	237	100	Fiction, Poetry	MA	MS
National University	225	100	100	600	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Screenwriting	MFA	CA
University of Tampa	220	220	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	FL
University of Kentucky	211	100	100	211	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	KY
Rhode Island College	203	203	100	203	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA	RI
San Diego State University	200	150	150	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	CA
University of New Orleans Low Residency	200	100	100	200	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	LA
University of California Berkeley	168	100	168	100		MA	CA
University of Central Oklahoma	166	100	100	166	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA	OK
California College of the Arts	166	166	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	CA
Naropa University	141	141	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Translation	MFA	CO
University of Windsor	134	134	100	100		MA	Ontario
Texas A&M	134	134	100	134	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA	TX
Savannah College of Art and Design	116	100	100	116	CNF	MFA	GA
Wilkes University	112	100	100	112	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA, MFA	PA
University of Guelph	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama	MFA	Ontario
Southern New Hampshire University	100	100	100	100
University of Memphis	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	TN
University of Hawaii	100	100	100	100		MA, PhD	HI
Middlebury College	100	100	100	100		Mlitt	VT
Eastern Michigan University	100	100	100	100		MA	MI
University of Kansas	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, Drama	MFA, PhD	KS
SUNY Albany	100	100	100	100		MA, PhD	NY
Lesley University	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, CYA, Drama, Screenwriting	MFA	MA
Minnesota State University Moorhead	100	100	100	100
Long Island University	100	100	100	100
University of Central Florida	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MFA	FL
SUNY Brockport	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA	NY
University of Akron	100	100	100	100
Lindenwood University	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Screenwriting	MFA	MO
University of Connecticut	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF, Drama, Screenwriting	MA, PhD	CT
Creighton University	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry, CNF	MA	NE
Ball State University	100	100	100	100
Drew University	100	100	100	100	Poetry	MFA	NJ
University of Massachusetts Boston	100	100	100	100	Fiction, Poetry	MFA	MA

Lists of authors without graduate creative writing degrees or whose degree status is unknown are available. 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.