Admission Deadlines
- For students interested in beginning the MFA with residency:
- November 1 deadline for winter residency and spring enrollment
- May 1 deadline for summer residency and fall enrollment
- For students interested in beginning the MFA with mentorship:
- December 1 for spring enrollment
- August 1 for fall enrollment
Applications will be considered after these deadlines if space permits.
Sample Portfolio: Students must submit online a sample of their work (20-30 pages of fiction, non-fiction, or screenwriting or 6-8 poems).
Personal Statement Guidelines: Students should describe why they want to be a writer and emphasize their commitment to their craft. While students in the program can work in more than one genre, they should specify which of the three genres they are applying for in their personal statement. Submit online.
Special Admission Options
Prior Learning Assessment
Our Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) option offers highly qualified students the opportunity to receive up to one full semester credit for the work they have already written or published. Students receiving the PLA can finish the MFA in three semesters instead of four.
Some of our very best students come to our program after years of working as writers. They have advanced skills in poetry, fiction, nonfiction, or screenwriting. Some have significant publications or have worked as professional writers. The PLA concept is intended to give academic credit (up to one full semester or 15 credits in the Fairfield MFA) to creative writers for significant prior learning experience, i.e. both for previous formal creative writing training in an MFA or MA in creative writing program, or a sustained, high level of skill in writing poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction or screenwriting. The following are some of the examples of work that would be considered for PLA:
- Successful completion of one full semester of graduate-level creative writing in an MFA or MA program
- Significant publications (for example, a book of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or a screenplay/play that has been produced, or significant individual publications in literary journals)
- Prizes or awards received for creative writing work already written
- Unpublished work in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, or screenwriting that, in the opinion of Fairfield’s MFA review board, demonstrates work that is of publishable quality.
A student interested in applying for PLA for up to 15 credits must complete the following:
Fairfield’s MFA Admission Committee will review applicants seeking PLA consideration and make the decision to award prior learning credit to the student, up to 15 academic credits (i.e., one semester in the MFA program). Students will be notified about PLA credits at the time of admission.
Explore the MFA in Creative Writing Program
