About the M.F.A. Degree

Credits and time restrictions

For the M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Environment, students must complete a minimum of 54 credit hours of graduate course work plus six hours of credit in 699.

Students with a B.A., B.S., or M.A. degree are expected to complete a master of fine arts program at Iowa State University within five years. Cases in which the student leaves ISU during his or her graduate career and later returns are dealt with individually by the Director of Graduate Education, the student's POS committee, and the Graduate College.

Graduate courses used to meet the requirements for a bachelor’s degree cannot be counted toward the credits required for your graduate degree; however, they can be used, where appropriate, to argue for a waiver of a POS requirement. You would still have to take 54 credit hours as a graduate student in order to graduate. Up to 9 credits of graduate course work taken as a non-degree graduate student or an advanced undergraduate before being admitted to the major can be applied towards your degree (see "Graduate Courses taken as an ISU undergraduate)."

Co-majoring in the M.F.A. program in Creative Writing and Environment

The minimum requirements for a co-major in Creative Writing and Environment are the same as those for a major in the program (see M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Environment in the Department of English Graduate Program of Study Manual). Students in other M.F.A. majors wishing to co-major in Creative Writing and Environment must meet all requirements in each of their two majors, including the completion of a thesis appropriate to the major in Creative Writing and Environment, to complete this single M.F.A. degree. POS committees must include co-major professors, each representing one of the co-majors.