MFA Admissions
Our Program
The MFA in creative writing at Wichita State University is a three-year graduate program that aims to admit four poetry and six fiction students each year. It is a 48-hour, studio-academic program with students in full-time residence. The program is approaching its 40th year anniversary. Almost all of its MFA students are funded for three years either through graduate teaching assistant positions (GTAs) or through a fellowship. In 2012 the program admitted 9 new students, all funded through GTA postions. In 2012, the MFA Program has 29 students enrolled, and 25 of the 29 students enrolled receive full support through GTA positions or fellowships.
Financial Support
Most of our MFA students are GTAs who teach two composition classes each semester to WSU undergraduates and work one hour a week in the English Department’s Writing Center. They pay no tuition, receive $4,250 each semester, and may buy discounted health insurance. The MFA program also awards two $12,500 fellowships each year, one in fiction writing and one in poetry, and it awards the Stephen F. Barr Fellowship, worth about $600.
Application Deadline
Applications for the fall semester must be made online and postmarked by February 1. Applications for spring semester must be made online and postmarked by October 1.
Admission Decisions
Students admitted into the MFA program will hear by April 1 and are expected to respond by April 15. If a student does not answer by April 15, we assume the offer has been declined. We often develop a wait list, so it’s possible for an applicant to hear after April 1.
Applicants should know that the Council of Graduate Schools policy is that no student should be obliged to accept an offer of financial support before April 15. More details on that policy can be found at the Council of Graduate Schools website.
Enrollment
To be a Graduate Teaching Assistant, students must enroll full time, which is 9 hours per semester. Our MFA students who are GTAs receive support for three years, as long as their academic record and teaching are satisfactory.