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MFA in Creative Writing

Program

Coursework

Each graduate course counts for three hours of course credit in a semester. Note: Students cannot take undergraduate courses and use them for credit in their graduate degree.

To graduate in three years, if you DO have an assistantship, plan to take five nine-hour semesters and one six-hour semester in the spring of your final year to complete a total of 51 hours. You must take nine hours each semester during your first year, since you need 18 graduate English hours to be considered for a TA position.

If you do NOT have an Assistantship, plan to take four nine-hour semesters, and two six-hour semesters to complete 48 hours in three years.

If you enroll in summer courses, you must pay out-of-state tuition, unless you have Texas resident status or work for the English department as an IA/TA.

If you receive Federal financial aid, you must take nine hours per semester in order to qualify for your full award. If you do not register for nine hours, your financial aid for tuition and fees will be prorated.

For financial aid information, please follow the link below: http://www.finaid.txstate.edu/graduate.html.

Required Courses

  • 12 degree hours (four sections) of workshop (ENG 5315). After two workshops, you may take a break to apply what you've learned to your work. Then take one workshop during your second year and one workshop during your third year. (Note: No student may repeat a workshop with any permanent MFA fiction or poetry faculty member. No fiction student may take a workshop with more than one Endowed Chair holder. No exceptions.)

  • 3 degree hours of Form & Theory of Fiction (ENG 5320) or Poetry (ENG 5322) taken in your first year.

  • 3 degree hours of Literary Techniques (ENG 5395), also known as Problems in Language and Literature courses. (Note: Literary Techniques may be repeated twice for six Cognate credits.)

  • 15 degree hours in Literature courses, which may include six hours of ENG 5312, Front Porch Journal, and three to six hours of ENG 5323, Studies in Autobiography and Memoir.  (Note: Students may take ENG 5323 twice, provided they take it with two separate instructors.)

  • 6 degree hours of thesis work (ENG 5399A and ENG 5399B)

  • 9 degree hours in an Open Cognate. Six hours may be 5395 seminars.