There are only a few Masters degree programs in Creative Writing that can be completed entirely through distance learning. There are many more that require some short residency periods. These “low residency” Masters degree programs are plentiful enough that many people can find one that is geographically near enough to be manageable. I’ve created a list (in no particular order) and I hope that others will fill in any that I’ve left off. Zero Residency National University U of British Columbia (100% DL is only “possible”) U of Texas - El Paso Non-US Schools Lancaster U Manchester Metropolitan U DeMontfort U U of Glasgow Low Residency Programs Naropa U Hollins U - (children’s lit) Union Inst. & U - Vermont College of Fine Arts Seton Hill U Lesley U Pacific U Goddard C Spalding U Eastern Kentucky U Hunter C: CUNY Hamline U - (writing for kids and young adults) Goucher C U of Alaska - Anchorage U of Nebraska Prescott C Pine Manor C Wilkes U New England C - (poetry) Murray State U Seattle Pacific U Chatham U Carlow U U of Texas - Austin - (bilingual) Queens U of Charlotte U of California - Riverside/Palm Desert U of Southern Maine Pacific Lutheran U Converse C Antioch U - Los Angeles Antioch U - McGregor Warren Wilson C Fairleigh Dickenson U U of New Orleans Drew U - (poetry) Northern Arizona U Fairfield U Western Connecticut State U Newcastle U CSU Chico For those keen on nomenclature, most of the programs listed award MFA - Creative Writing degrees. Some are MA degrees. *Note - I never got to Australia so there are probably at least a few to be found there.
If you include nationally accredited schools, there is also the newly DETC-accredited MA in Creative writing at Perelandra College.
You may want to add this to your list: Oxford University - Master of Studies in Creative Writing "Non-US School" "Low residency" http://awardbearing.conted.ox.ac.uk/creative_writing/mstcw.php
It's possible these guys may have the least expensive masters degree available...at least that I know of in my limited yet stubbornly adhered to knowledge. Right up there with Fort Hays State U's MLS degree.
This report states that University of Louisiana-Monroe will soon add an online MFA in creative writing. Like many public universities in Cajun country, out-of-state tuition fees for online students are waived.
If you include nationally accredited schools, Full Sail University offers an MFA in Creative Writing completely online. No residency required. Creative Writing MFA Degree : Full Sail Online
Does anyone have experience with or further insight into any of the fully online (no residency required) programs mentioned above (or any others in addition to these)? While I'd love to explore some of the low residency options, as a working mom of two young kids, 10 consecutive days away from home, twice a year, doesn't feel workable to me at this point. Thanks so much!
You may also want to add the Stonecoast MFA through the University of Southern Maine to the low-residency list. I've researched it a fair amount and it seems like a great program, although not one that I can manage at this point, unfortunately.
I got about halfway through an MFA in Creative Writing at National University, which is fully online. My focus was poetry. I had four classes left to earn my degree, but my husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2010 so I had to drop out. He's cancer-free now, but I decided to pursue a different degree and am now enrolled at Northeastern University, working on an MS in Technical Communication. I loved the workshop classes at NU and feel that I learned a lot in them. The feedback from the professors and other students was pretty amazing, even when compared to the on-campus workshops I took in undergrad. I completed Seminar in Poetry, Advanced Poetry Workshops A and B, Seminar in Fiction, and Seminar in Non-Fiction. The other required class I took was Pedagogy of Creative Writing (didn't enjoy that class very much; the professor was pretty much checked out the whole time and no one in the class got feedback on our final papers). Quite honestly, all of the classes were a lot harder than I expected. I mean, A LOT harder. Every week, we were required to read several novels or collections of poetry, read critical analyses and essays, write discussion board responses and papers, and write original work to submit for critique. Each response and paper had a required minimum word length. Critiques given to other students had to meet required minimum word length and other criteria. The non-workshop classes required final papers of around 15-20 pages, and the workshop classes required final projects consisting of manuscripts or chapbooks. There were many nights and weekends when I disappeared into my home office and didn't emerge because of the amount of homework I had to do. When I look back now, I'm surprised I was able to keep up while working a full-time job. If I had kids, I don't think I'd have been able to do it. That said, I learned a lot while in the program, and I still use much of what I learned in my own personal writing. Even though I didn't finish the program, I definitely feel like I'm a stronger writer because of it.
I have a few to add - Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ) West Virginia Wesleyan University, and University of Tampa.
I just ran into a new program. It's not an MFA but a Master of Letters. I guess it's an Australian thing. In any case, you can check it out here https://www.cqu.edu.au/courses/study-areas/education-and-humanities/postgraduate/master-of-letters
