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College Info

Finding a dedicated creative writing program at a school you're excited about can be a real challenge, and that's even before you start worrying about getting in. Nonetheless, there are some great options. In order to help you find the best school for you, this list rounds up some of the best colleges for creative writing in the United States .

The Best Creative Writing Programs: Ranking Criteria

You should never take college rankings as absolute truth —not even the very official-seeming US News ones. Instead, use these kinds of lists as a jumping-off place for your own exploration of colleges. Pay attention not just to what the rankings are but to how the rankings are determined.

To help with that, I'll explain how I came up with this highly unscientific list of great creative writing colleges. I started by narrowing my search down to schools that offered a specific creative writing major. (If you don't see a school you were expecting, it's likely because they only have a minor.)

In ranking the schools, I considered five major criteria:

• #1: MFA Ranking —If a school has a great graduate creative writing program, it means you'll be taught by those same professors and the excellent graduate students they attract. Schools with strong MFA programs are also more likely to have solid alumni networks and internship opportunities. However, many schools with great undergrad programs do not offer MFAs, in which case I simply focused on the other four options.
• #2: General School Reputation —The vast majority of your classes won't be in creative writing, so it's important that other parts of the school, especially the English department, are great as well.
• #3: Extracurricular Opportunities —One of the key advantages of majoring in creative writing is that it can provide access to writing opportunities outside the classroom, so I took what kind of internship programs, author readings, and literary magazines the school offers into consideration.
• #4: Diversity of Class Options —I gave extra points to schools with a variety of genre options and specific, interesting classes.
• #5: Alumni/Prestige —This last criterion is a bit more subjective: is the school known for turning out good writers? Certainly it's less important than what kind of education you'll actually get, but having a brand-name degree (so to speak) can be helpful.

The Best Creative Writing Schools

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of schools! The exact numbering is always arguable, so look at it as a general trend from absolutely amazing to still super great, rather than fixating on why one school is ranked #3 and another is ranked #4.

#1: Northwestern University

Northwestern's undergrad creative writing program boasts acclaimed professors and an unparalleled track record of turning out successful writers (including Divergent author Veronica Roth and short-story writer Karen Russell).

Outside the classroom, you can work on the student-run literary journal, intern at a publication in nearby Chicago, or submit to the Department of English's yearly writing competition . The university is also home to a top journalism program , so if you want to try your hand at nonfiction as well, you'll have plenty of opportunities to do so.

#2: Columbia University

Like Northwestern, Columbia is home to both a world-class creative writing program and a top journalism school (plus one of the best English departments in the country), so you have a wide range of writing-related course options. Columbia also benefits from its location in New York City, which is bursting at the seams with publishing houses, literary journals, and talented authors.

#3: University of Iowa

The University of Iowa's big draw is the infrastructure of its graduate Writers' Workshop, which is often considered the best MFA program in the country.

As an English and Creative Writing major here, you'll take classes from great young writers and established professors alike, and get to choose from a wide range of topics. This major provides transferable skills important for a liberal arts major with a creative focus. You'll also have access to the university's impressive literary community, including frequent readings, writing prizes and scholarships, and the acclaimed literary journal The Iowa Review .

#4: Emory University

Emory is renowned for its dedicated undergrad creative writing program , which draws the very best visiting scholars and writers. Students here have the chance to attend intimate question-and-answer sessions with award-winning authors, study a range of genres, compete for writing awards and scholarships, and work closely with an adviser to complete an honors project.

#5: Oberlin College

A small liberal arts school in Ohio, Oberlin offers very different advantages than the schools above do. You'll have fewer opportunities to pursue writing in the surrounding city, but the quality of the teachers and the range of courses might make up for that. Moreover, it boasts just as impressive alumni, including actress and writer Lena Dunham.

#6: Hamilton College

Hamilton is another small college, located in upstate New York. It's known for giving students the freedom to pursue their interests and the support to help them explore topics in real depth, both inside and outside the classroom. Hamilton's creative writing program takes full advantage with small classes and lots of opportunities to intern and publish; it also has one of the best writing centers in the country.

#7: Brown University

Brown's Literary Arts program offers one of the top MFAs in the US as well as an undergraduate major . For the major, you must take four creative writing workshops and six reading-intensive courses, which span an array of departments and topics, from music and literature to Middle East studies and Egyptology.

#8: Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University has an excellent creative writing MFA program, lots of super specific class options, and a number of scholarships specifically earmarked for creative writing students. This school’s undergraduate English program also offers a concentration in creative writing that allows students to specialize in a specific genre: poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. If you’re interested in exploring your potential in a specific writing genre, Washington University could be a great pick for you.

#9: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT might not be a school you generally associate with writing, but it actually has an excellent program that offers courses in digital media and science writing, as well as creative writing, and provides plenty of guidance on how graduates can navigate the tricky job market.

Not to mention the school is located in Cambridge, a haven for book lovers and writers of all kinds. Though it probably isn’t a good fit for students who hate science, MIT is a great place for aspiring writers who want to build writing skills that are marketable in a wide range of industries.

#10: University of Michigan

University of Michigan is one of the best state universities in the country and has a top-notch MFA program. This school’s undergrad creative writing sub-concentration requires students to submit applications for admittance to advanced creative writing courses. These applications give students crucial practice in both building a writing portfolio and articulating their interest in creative writing to an audience who will evaluate their work. If you're looking to attend a big school with a great creative writing major, this is a fantastic choice.

#11: Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins is another school that's known more for engineering than it is for writing, but, like MIT, it has a dedicated writing program. As a major here, you must take not only courses in prose, poetry, and literature, but also classes on topics such as philosophy and history.

#12: Colorado College

Colorado College is a small liberal arts school known for its block plan , which allows students to focus on one class per three-and-a-half-week block. The creative writing track of the English major includes a sequence of four writing workshops and also requires students to attend every reading of the Visiting Writers Series.

Bonus School: New York University

I didn't include NYU in the main list because it doesn't have a dedicated creative writing major, but it's a great school for aspiring writers nonetheless, offering one of the most impressive creative writing faculties in the country and all the benefits of a Manhattan location.

How To Pick the Best Creative Writing School for You

Just because Northwestern is a great school for creative writing doesn't mean you should set your heart on going there. (The football fans are completely terrifying, for one thing.) So where should you go then?

Here are some questions to ask yourself when looking at creative writing programs to help you determine the best school for you:

Does It Have Courses You're Interested In?

Look at the course offerings and see whether they interest you. While you can't predict exactly what classes you'll love, you want to avoid a mismatch where what you want to study and what the program offers are completely different. For example, if you want to write sonnets but the school focuses more on teaching fiction, it probably won't be a great fit for you.

Also, don't forget to look at the English courses and creative writing workshops! In most programs, you'll be taking a lot of these, too.

What Opportunities Are There To Pursue Writing Outside of Class?

I touched on this idea in the criteria section, but it's important enough that I want to reiterate it here. Some of the best writing experience you can get is found outside the classroom, so see what kind of writing-related extracurriculars a school has before committing to it.

Great options include getting involved with the campus newspaper, working on the school's literary journal, or interning at the university press.

Who Will Be Teaching You?

Who are the professors? What kind of work have they published? Check teacher ratings on Rate My Professors (but make sure to read the actual reviews—and always take them with a grain of salt).

If you're looking at a big school, there's a good chance that a lot of your teachers will be graduate students. But that's not necessarily a bad thing: a lot of the best teachers I had in college were graduate students. Just take into consideration what kind of graduate program the school has. If there's a great creative writing MFA program, then the graduate students are likely to be better writers and more engaged teachers.

What Are the Alumni Doing Now?

If you have a sense of what you want to do after you graduate, see if any alumni of the program are pursuing that type of career. The stronger the alumni network is, the more connections you'll have when it comes time to get a job.

What About the Rest of the School?

Don't pick a school for which you like the creative writing program but dread everything else about it. Most of your time will be spent doing other things, whether hanging out in the dorms, exploring off campus, or fulfilling general education requirements.

Many schools require you to apply to the creative writing major, so make doubly sure you'll be happy with your choice even if you aren't accepted to the program.

What's Next?

Are you sure a creative writing major is the right fit for you? Read our post on the pros and cons of the major to help you decide what path to take in college.

For more general advice about choosing a college, check out our complete guide to finding the right school for you. Some major factors to consider include deciding whether you're interested in a small college or a big university , an in-state or out-of-state institution , and a public or private school .

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Alex is an experienced tutor and writer. Over the past five years, she has worked with almost a hundred students and written about pop culture for a wide range of publications. She graduated with honors from University of Chicago, receiving a BA in English and Anthropology, and then went on to earn an MA at NYU in Cultural Reporting and Criticism. In high school, she was a National Merit Scholar, took 12 AP tests and scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and ACT.

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Writing in the Disciplines

These colleges typically make the writing process a priority at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum. Students are encouraged to produce and refine various forms of writing for different audiences in different disciplines. In spring and summer 2023, we invited college presidents, chief academic officers, deans of students and deans of admissions from more than 1,500 schools to nominate up to 15 institutions with stellar examples of writing in the disciplines. Colleges and universities that received 10 or more nominations are ranked here. Read the methodology »

To unlock full rankings, SAT/ACT scores and more, sign up for the U.S. News College Compass !

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Brown University

Providence, RI

• #1 in Writing in the Disciplines
• #9 in National Universities  (tie)

At Brown University, undergraduate students are responsible for designing their own academic study with more than 80 concentration programs to choose from. Another unique offering at this private, Ivy League institution in Providence, Rhode Island, is the Program in Liberal Medical Education, which grants both a bachelor’s degree and medical degree in eight years.

(fall 2022)

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Columbia University

New York, NY

• #2 in Writing in the Disciplines
• #12 in National Universities  (tie)

Columbia University has three undergraduate schools: Columbia College, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), and the School of General Studies. This Ivy League, private school guarantees students housing for all four years on campus in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood in New York City.

Duke University

• #3 in Writing in the Disciplines  (tie)
• #7 in National Universities  (tie)

Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University is a private institution that has liberal arts and engineering programs for undergraduates. The Duke Blue Devils sports teams have a fierce rivalry with the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill Tar Heels and are best known for their outstanding men's basketball program.

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

• #1 in National Universities

The ivy-covered campus of Princeton University, a private institution, is located in the quiet town of Princeton, New Jersey. Princeton was the first university to offer a "no loan" policy to financially needy students, giving grants instead of loans to accepted students who need help paying tuition.

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

• #5 in Writing in the Disciplines  (tie)
• #93 in National Universities  (tie)

The University of Iowa offers top-notch academic programming in more than 100 areas. Students looking to hone their leadership skills have many options, too: They can enroll in the LeaderShape Institute, a six-day getaway workshop; or participate in one of the many programs offered through the Center for Student Involvement & Leadership, including arts and entertainment, and multicultural programs. Freshmen do not have to live on campus, but about 95 percent choose to do so. Campus life may pose a challenge to tobacco users, as Iowa is a smoke-free campus. Students have more than 500 clubs and organizations from which to choose, and close to 10 percent of students go Greek as members of the school's more than 50 fraternities and sororities. Sports are another big focus of campus life; even in the competitive NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference, the Iowa Hawkeyes are notorious players. Four blocks from campus is Iowa City, a Midwestern metropolis that has been recognized among the nation’s best for its scenery, greenery and sustainable energy efforts.

(out-of-state)

Yale University

New Haven, CT

• #5 in National Universities

Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut, offers a small college life with the resources of a major research institution. Yale students are divided into 14 residential colleges that foster a supportive environment for living, learning and socializing.

Cornell University

• #7 in Writing in the Disciplines

Cornell University, a private school in Ithaca, New York, has 14 colleges and schools. Each admits its own students, though every graduate receives a degree from Cornell University. The university has more than 1,000 student organizations on campus.

Carleton College

Northfield, MN

• #8 in Writing in the Disciplines
• #9 in National Liberal Arts Colleges  (tie)

Carleton College is a private school in the historic river town of Northfield, Minnesota. Carls, as its students are known, have about 35 majors to choose from and more than 170 organizations to check out.

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA

• #9 in Writing in the Disciplines
• #4 in National Liberal Arts Colleges  (tie)

About 10 miles outside of Philadelphia is Swarthmore College, a private liberal arts institution that also offers a unique engineering degree program. Because Swarthmore is part of the Tri-College Consortium, students can also take courses at nearby Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College.

Amherst College

Amherst, MA

• #10 in Writing in the Disciplines  (tie)
• #2 in National Liberal Arts Colleges

Amherst College, a private school in Amherst, Massachusetts, is known for its rigorous academic climate. Because Amherst is a member of the Five Colleges consortium, students can also take courses at Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, Hampshire College and the University of Massachusetts—Amherst.

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The 13 Best Colleges for Creative Writing Degrees

• 16-minute read
• 23rd February 2023

So, you want to pursue a creative writing degree program in the United States. Wonderful! If you are passionate about writing and you’re an avid reader, a career in fiction writing would be the way to go! When it comes to choosing the right MFA (Master of Fine Arts) program – in this case, creative writing – you might be wondering which schools have the best program. What career opportunities are there after graduation? What courses will I take in the program? What’s the admission process like?

A creative writing program will immerse you in your craft, help you develop writing discipline, and provide critical feedback on your writing. The program should also be highly reputable and produce top-quality writers.

You must decide whether you want to attend a public or a private college . This choice can be important because of student population size, tuition fees, and reputation. Private colleges will be considerably more expensive than public ones. Do you want to attend college in a small town or a big city? Is the school located somewhere that can provide ample writing inspiration? It’s important to know that some schools provide more student opportunities in their program, yet others have stronger networking connections. This distinction can be crucial once you’ve graduated from the program.

This post will highlight the benefits of a creative writing degree, including career opportunities after graduation. We’ll also discuss what you’ll need to apply. Finally, we’ll highlight our top list of creative writing schools in the United S tates. After you’ve read this post, you’ll better understand the opportunities these schools provide.

What Is a Creative Writing Degree?

A creative writing degree prepares you for a career as a writer of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, or drama. It’s also suitable for those wishing to enter the field of editing or publishing. The program immerses students in writing and provides valuable writing opportunities and feedback.

Career Opportunities After Graduation

Graduates usually find jobs as authors, copywriters, journalists, editors, columnists, or screenwriters. Additionally, graduates find opportunities to become editors for big publishing agencies, which work with some of the most famous best-selling fiction authors.

What Subjects Are Typically Covered?

You can expect to take plenty of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry workshops. Almost all programs provide compulsory introduction to fiction and poetry classes. In addition, you’ll likely take courses in screenwriting, medieval literature, and traditions in fiction. Finally, some courses focus on writing prompts (a daddy for writing inspiration).

Factors to Consider in Choosing a College for a Creative Writing Degree

Although the following factors will vary from college to college, you should consider them carefully:

●  Location and campus culture

●  Faculty and resources available

●  Alumni network and professional connections

●  Internships and work opportunities (internships will provide valuable work experience)

Admission Process

You should know that many creative writing degree programs are very selective. For this reason, you’ll need to prove your passion for writing and reading. First, you’ll need to apply to the college of your choice. This will mean submitting an admission essay as well as the application form. Creative writing degree programs will also want a writing sample, such as a poem or a short story. However, these don’t have to be works you’ve published.

Additionally, you’ll need to submit the following to your chosen college:

●  Referee information (must not be a friend or a relative)

●  Official transcripts

●  TOEFL or IELTS test results (if English is not your native language)

●  GRE scores

Gathering all required documentation for admission will be time-consuming, so you’ll want to get started early. Ideally, you should start applying nine months before your program begins. For example, if the program starts in August, you should begin applying in November of the previous year.

1. Northwestern University

Established in 1851, Northwestern University is located in Evanston, Illinois (just outside Chicago). With approximately 22,000 students, it’s a private institution with a six-to-one student-to-faculty ratio. Professors in the creative writing program are award-winning authors. Northwestern is known for producing successful authors such as Karen Russell and Veronica Roth . It also features a top journalism program. Students in the creative writing program can get involved with the student-run literary journal, intern at a Chicago publication, or submit an entry to the yearly writing competition of the English Department.

Additionally, students can learn from talented writers at the Annual Writers’ Festival . Students can even submit their work to the school’s annual writing competition. So, if gaining professional writing experience is important, Northwestern might just be what you’re looking for! Plus, Chicago’s iconic landmarks and lakeside beaches provide robust inspiration for writers!

“My Northwestern creative workshops, where I honed my editorial skills, were instrumental in setting me down a career path in publishing.”

–  Laura Biagi, Class of 2009

2. Columbia University

Located in New York City (known colloquially as the Big Apple), Columbia was established in 1754. It’s the fifth-oldest American institution of higher learning. It has around 36,000 students, and people consider it one of the great elite private colleges in America. Like Northwestern, Columbia has a world-class creative writing program and a top journalism school. Great writers have attended Columbia, including J.D. Salinger and Federico Garcia Lorca. The creative writing curriculum includes rigorous writing workshops at all levels and seminars exclusively for creative writing students. In these workshops, students produce original works of writing and submit them to classmates and professors for critical analysis. To study at Columbia is to be part of a distinguished group of like-minded writers.

If that isn’t enough to convince you, many consider New York City America’s literary capital. It’s home to major publishing houses, literary journals, picturesque parks, iconic landmarks, and talented authors from around the globe. The Big Apple has no shortage of inspiration for prospective writers!

“Before being accepted into the program, I didn’t have the confidence to critique my work seriously.”

–  Mary Mann, Class of 2015

3. University of Iowa

If you prefer to study in a location away from the hustle and bustle of a big city, the University of Iowa might be your answer! Founded in 1847, this public institution has about 31,000 students. It’s located in Iowa City, and the nearest major city is Chicago. However, studying in Iowa can provide an opportunity to go off the beaten path.

Here are some highlights of the university and Iowa City:

●  Iowa City is a designated UNESCO City of Literature.

●  The city’s annual Book Festival attracts people from across the American Midwest.

●  The MFA of the university’s nonfiction writing program has been voted number one in creative nonfiction in the United States.

●  Students have access to the university’s literary community, which offers frequent readings, writing prizes and scholarships, and The Iowa Review , an acclaimed literary journal.

●  Tennessee Williams is an alumnus of the program.

●  Like Columbia, the University of Iowa strongly values the workshop method.

We recommend checking out this video for a deeper dive into the world of creative writing at Iowa.

4. Emory University

Emory, founded in 1836, is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. If you prefer a university in a warm climate, Atlanta is a good choice. Compared with cities in the northern states, Atlanta experiences mild winters, though you might get cold snaps and the odd snowfall. Emory has around 15,000 students and has an affiliation with the United Methodist Church.

Emory’s dedicated undergraduate creative writing program draws distinguished visiting scholars and writers. Other notable program highlights include:

●  Opportunities to attend intimate question-and-answer sessions with award-winning authors

●  Faculty who are professional practitioners in the writing field

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●  Studies in a range of genres, such as fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and playwriting

●  Annual writing contests

●  Writing awards and scholarships

●  The opportunity to work closely with an adviser to complete an honors project

Students will also find writing opportunities outside the classroom in the Atlanta area. The city has several writing organizations and clubs, such as the Atlanta Writers Club , the Georgia Writers Association , and Village Writers Group.

5. Oberlin College

Founded in 1833, Oberlin is a small liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, 31 miles south of Cleveland. It has just under 3,000 students. If you’re seeking a really small school, Oberlin is worth pursuing! It’s known for the robust quality of teachers and the variety of courses in the creative writing program. Two of the courses are Plot and Structure and Race and Poetic Innovation. In addition, you’ll find a robust workshop culture at Oberlin. The downside is that the city lacks opportunities to pursue writing. However, great opportunities exist in other Ohio cities, such as Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. Moreover, Ohio is the home of the late American novelist Toni Morrison.

It’s worth mentioning that Oberlin’s creative writing program has notable alumni, such as Lena Dunham , an actress and writer.

“I feel so consistently lucky to have such dedicated professors. Everyone I’ve worked with in the Creative Writing Program deeply cares about their students both as writers and as people. Classes are small, so you’re able to actually know and trust each other, which is important for productive workshopping.”

–  Fiona Warnick, Class of 2022

6. Hamilton College

Chartered as a college in 1812, Hamilton is in the upstate New York village of Clinton, between Syracuse and Albany. It has 2,000 students and 1,350 acres of campus space. Hamilton strongly believes in giving students the freedom to pursue their own interests, an ethos that explains why the college’s motto is “Know Thyself.”

Hamilton’s creative writing program is known for its small classes and plentiful opportunities to intern and publish. Hamilton also has one of the best writing centers in the nation. Students take courses that balance literary study with poetry and prose workshops. The program emphasizes learning to write with attentiveness to form and genre. Students write a creative project that demonstrates originality and attention to language.

If you like a creative writing school that’s “current with the times,” Hamilton has recently renovated List Hall, which houses the program. The hall features collaborative spaces for students and a new landscaped entrance.

7. Brown University

Founded in 1764, Brown is a leading research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown’s student-centered learning and deep sense of purpose make it distinct. In fact, many American high schoolers dream of studying at Brown! It has just under 10,000 students, and its literary arts program is one of the top MFAs in the United States. Students can choose one of three tracks: fiction, poetry, or digital/cross-disciplinary writing – a plus if your aim is fiction writing, for example! Although students must take certain classes, they can design much of their curriculum. Brown also provides financial aid to students in the program through a first-year fellowship. Additionally, students can teach undergraduate workshops during their second year. Brown is a special place for writers who envision new paths in fiction, poetry, and digital language arts.

8.  Washington University in St. Louis

It might surprise you that Washington University is in St. Louis, Missouri, rather than Washington, DC. Since 1853, Washington University has dared to challenge the unknown and taken great pride in its teaching, research, and service to society. The university has a renowned creative writing program with several scholarships. The undergraduate English program also offers a concentration, which allows students to specialize in a specific writing genre: fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. The program even has a special concentration in publishing! Students often find internships with companies such as Atlantic Media, Business Insider, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

Washington University should be on your list if you already have a specific writing genre in mind!

9.  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

You might not associate writing with an institute of technology. However, MIT has a wonderful program that features courses in digital media, science writing, and creative writing. Since its incorporation in 1861, MIT has been educating future leaders with a three-to-one student-to-faculty ratio in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Apologies if you were expecting MIT to be in Boston. However, don’t let Cambridge put you off. The city is a haven for book lovers and writers from all walks of life, so you’ll find plenty of writing pursuits outside of class! And when it comes to finding work after graduation, the program provides lots of guidance for navigating the tricky job market.

10.  University of Michigan

If you’ve ever watched NCAA football, you’re probably familiar with the University of Michigan. Founded in Detroit in 1817, Michigan is ranked the third-best national undergraduate public university. The university’s main campus is in the small city of Ann Arbor, ranked the number one best small college town in America.

The University of Michigan has a top-notch MFA program. The undergrad creative writing sub-concentration requires students to submit applications for admittance to advanced creative writing courses. These applications provide crucial practice in building a writing portfolio and articulating an interest in creative writing. In addition, the university has two student-run literary journals: Xylem Magazine and Fortnight Literary Press . Both publish students’ best works – an excellent way to get your writing noticed!

Screenwriter Jennifer Freides graduated from the program. “I learned to read fast, manage my time, think critically, organize my thoughts, and speak with clarity at U-M.”

With nearly 50,000 students, the University of Michigan is a top choice for those looking for a big school with a great MFA program!

11.  Johns Hopkins University

This private research university was founded in 1876 in Baltimore, Maryland, and it takes its name from nineteenth-century Maryland philanthropist Johns Hopkins. With 24,000 students, Johns Hopkins (or JHU, its more common name) ranks consistently among the most prestigious universities in the United States. Novelists John Barth and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie graduated from here, as did the famous horror film director Wes Craven.

Although people know JHU more for its engineering program, it does have a reputable writing program. Students in the program take courses in philosophy and history in addition to classes in prose, poetry, and literature. The creative writing program has journalism, the arts, and publishing internship opportunities. Additionally, short story writers might be interested in the program’s Danielle Alyse Basford Writing Prize .

Baltimore is no stranger to the literary world, as the American writer Edgar Allan Poe spent several years here. His poem The Raven is the namesake of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. You can visit the Poe House and Museum to see the writing desk and chair where Poe created some of his famous work!

12.  Colorado College

Colorado College was founded in 1874 and is in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It’s a small liberal arts college with over 2,000 students. People know the college mainly for its Block Plan , which allows students to focus on one class per three-and-a-half-week block. Students will find that the creative writing track interweaves craft, imagination, and a lively literary framework. It includes a sequence of four writing workshops and mandatory attendance at the Visiting Writers Series. Attending readings at the Visiting Writers Series will deeply immerse students in the written word at Colorado College. In addition, students will find plenty of opportunities within the program, from AMC college writing contests to the student-led spoken word group, SpeakEasy. If you’re an outdoorsy writer, you’ll love Colorado Springs! It’s surrounded by picturesque hiking opportunities, including Garden of the Gods ! If you envision taking one class at a time at a small liberal arts school, you should consider Colorado College!

13.  New York University

New York University (NYU) is another prestigious university in New York City. It was established in 1831 and is currently the largest private university in the United States, with more than 11,000 students. It even has campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. As mentioned, New York is the American literary epicenter. Although NYU doesn’t offer a creative writing major, it’s an excellent school for aspiring writers. You’ll still find workshops in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Classes are small, with a maximum of 15 students, and the school has a student-edited literary journal called West 10 th . The school also offers intensive summer writing programs in Florence and Paris, so students can develop their craft while living the writer’s life in Italy or France. The faculty consists of award-winning poets, short story writers, and novelists, and many of them have received Pulitzer Prizes and NEA Fellowships. So, although NYU lacks a creative writing major, it has a fine reputation, small classes, and ample opportunities to develop your writing craft!

So, there you have our list of top creative writing schools. Let’s recap key points from our post:

●  Creative writing programs are pretty selective, so you should be genuinely passionate about reading and writing.

●  Private schools have the best reputation and small classes. However, they can be really expensive.

●  You will need to submit at least one writing sample as part of your application.

●  Creative writing programs are heavy in workshop culture.

●  New York City is America’s literary capital.

●  Most programs have literary journals where you can submit your work.

●  A faculty of professional writers will be your teachers.

●  Graduates often go on to become authors, editors, and copywriters. Getting into publishing is also a possibility.

Whichever school you choose, it must be the right fit for you! While one might be great for some people, it might not resonate with you. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to visit the school if possible. Even a virtual tour will suffice. We also suggest reaching out to current professors for more information. You can even reach out to current or past students through LinkedIn. Finally, take your time when researching schools. Got more questions about creative writing? We recommend this video !

Thanks for reading!

1. How important is location when you are considering a creative writing program?

You’ll want to prioritize a location with a vibrant literary scene rather than one with a warm climate. There should be plenty of opportunities to engage with writing in the community outside the classroom. There should also be various career opportunities within the community after graduation.

2. What is the cost of attending a creative writing program in the United States?

The cost will depend on whether the school is public or private. Public school tuition will be roughly $17,000 to $20,000 US. On the other hand, private schools will be considerably more expensive, especially Columbia and Hamilton. You can expect tuition to be between $50,000 and $69,000 US.

 3. Where can I get feedback on my college application?

Great question! We recommend leaving this to our team of proofreading experts at Proofed! They can check for grammar and punctuation errors and ensure perfect spelling. They will also ensure that the application uses appropriate academic language. Consider submitting a 500-word document for free today!

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2024 Best Creative Writing Schools

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 215 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Creative Writing Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 6,817 degrees in creative writing during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

• Best Overall Creative Writing Schools List

Choosing a Great Creative Writing School

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Creative Writing Rankings by Degree Level

The creative writing school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings , including this list of the Best Creative Writing Schools. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state .

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology .

Best Schools for Creative Writing in the United States

The schools below may not offer all types of creative writing degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools in Creative Writing

Every student who is interested in creative writing needs to check out Johns Hopkins University. Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.

There were approximately 84 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent year we have data available.

Any student pursuing a degree in creative writing needs to look into University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus. Pitt is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Pittsburgh. This university ranks 7th out of 109 colleges for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.

There were roughly 125 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Pitt in the most recent data year.

Any student who is interested in creative writing needs to check out Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.

There were roughly 18 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent year we have data available.

Any student pursuing a degree in creative writing needs to take a look at University of Chicago. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.

There were roughly 36 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year.

Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were approximately 134 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.

Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were about 17 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year.

Brown is a large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Providence. A Best Colleges rank of #21 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Brown is a great university overall.

There were about 35 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Brown in the most recent year we have data available.

Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 45 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.

Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 40 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were about 54 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent data year.

UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the city of Minneapolis. This university ranks 1st out of 52 schools for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.

There were roughly 9 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent data year.

Located in the town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 96 schools for overall quality in the state of Ohio.

There were about 55 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Miami University - Oxford in the most recent data year.

Located in the city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Harvard is a great university overall.

There were roughly 17 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Harvard in the most recent year we have data available.

Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Emory is a great university overall.

There were about 43 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Emory in the most recent year we have data available.

Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 42 colleges for overall quality in the state of Indiana.

There were roughly 19 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available.

UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Seattle. This university ranks 1st out of 51 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.

There were roughly 58 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent data year.

WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis. A Best Colleges rank of #17 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means WUSTL is a great university overall.

There were approximately 30 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at WUSTL in the most recent year we have data available.

Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.

There were approximately 7 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year.

Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.

There were roughly 6 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent year we have data available.

Wellesley is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Wellesley. This college ranks 12th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were about 12 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Wellesley in the most recent data year.

UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin. This university ranks 2nd out of 115 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were approximately 86 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent year we have data available.

Iowa State is a very large public university located in the small city of Ames. This university ranks 1st out of 40 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were approximately 12 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent data year.

Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. This university ranks 6th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were roughly 18 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Boston U in the most recent data year.

Located in the large city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 5th out of 96 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.

There were roughly 53 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UC in the most recent year we have data available.

University of Arizona is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Tucson. This university ranks 3rd out of 26 schools for overall quality in the state of Arizona.

There were approximately 84 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at University of Arizona in the most recent data year.

Located in the town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 23rd out of 96 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.

There were approximately 26 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at BGSU in the most recent year we have data available.

Rest of the Top Best Creative Writing Schools

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Creative Writing Schools award.

Creative Writing by Region

View the Best Creative Writing Schools for a specific region near you.

Other Rankings

Associate degrees in creative writing, master's degrees in creative writing, bachelor's degrees in creative writing, doctor's degrees in creative writing.

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Creative Writing

One of 4 majors within the Writing Studies area of study, Creative Writing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Creative Writing

View All Creative Writing Related Majors >

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System ( IPEDS ) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s ( College Scorecard ).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO .

More about our data sources and methodologies .

Popular Reports

Compare your school options.

Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Degree Program

Online Courses

11 out of 12 total courses

On-Campus Experience

One 1- or 3-week residency in summer

$3,220 per course

Unlock your creative potential and hone your unique voice.

Build a strong foundation in literary criticism and writing across multiple genres — including fiction, nonfiction, and drama — in our live online writing and literature program with an in-person writers’ residency at Harvard.

Program Overview

Through the master’s degree in creative writing and literature, you’ll hone your skills as a storyteller — crafting publishable original scripts, novels, and stories.

In small, workshop-style classes, you’ll master key elements of narrative craft, including characterization, story and plot structure, point of view, dialogue, and description. And you’ll learn to approach literary works as both a writer and scholar by developing skills in critical analysis.

Program Benefits

Instructors who are published authors of drama, fiction, and nonfiction

A community of writers who support your growth in live online classes

Writer's residency with agent & editor networking opportunities

Personalized academic and career advising

Thesis or capstone options that lead to publishable creative work

Harvard Alumni Association membership upon graduation

Customizable Course Curriculum

As you work through the program’s courses, you’ll enhance your creative writing skills and knowledge of literary concepts and strategies. You’ll practice the art of revision to hone your voice as a writer in courses like Writing the Short Personal Essay and Writing Flash Fiction.

Within the creative writing and literature program, you will choose between a thesis or capstone track. You’ll also experience the convenience of online learning and the immersive benefits of learning in person.

11 Online Courses

• Primarily synchronous
• Fall, spring, January, and summer options

Writers’ Residency

A 1- or 3-week summer master class taught by a notable instructor, followed by an agents-and-editors weekend

Thesis or Capstone Track

• Thesis: features a 9-month independent creative project with a faculty advisor
• Capstone: includes crafting a fiction or nonfiction manuscript in a classroom community

The path to your degree begins before you apply to the program.

First, you’ll register for and complete 2 required courses, earning at least a B in each. These foundational courses are investments in your studies and count toward your degree, helping ensure success in the program.

Getting Started

We invite you to explore degree requirements, confirm your initial eligibility, and learn more about our unique “earn your way in” admissions process.

A Faculty of Creative Writing Experts

Studying at Harvard Extension School means learning from the world’s best. Our instructors are renowned academics in literary analysis, storytelling, manuscript writing, and more. They bring a genuine passion for teaching, with students giving our faculty an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.

Bryan Delaney

Playwright and Screenwriter

Talaya Adrienne Delaney

Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University

Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

Our community at a glance.

80% of our creative writing and literature students are enrolled in our master’s degree program for either personal enrichment or to make a career change. Most (74%) are employed full time while pursuing their degree and work across a variety of industries.

Download: Creative Writing & Literature Master's Degree Fact Sheet

Average Age

Course Taken Each Semester

Work Full Time

Would Recommend the Program

Professional Experience in the Field

Pursued for Personal Enrichment

Career Opportunities & Alumni Outcomes

Graduates of our Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Program have writing, research, and communication jobs in the fields of publishing, advertising/marketing, fundraising, secondary and higher education, and more.

Some alumni continue their educational journeys and pursue further studies in other nationally ranked degree programs, including those at Boston University, Brandeis University, University of Pennsylvania, and Cambridge University.

Our alumni hold titles as:

• Marketing Manager
• Director of Publishing
• Senior Research Writer

Our alumni work at a variety of leading organizations, including:

• Little, Brown & Company
• New York University (NYU)
• Bentley Publishers

Career Advising and Mentorship

Whatever your career goals, we’re here to support you. Harvard’s Mignone Center for Career Success offers career advising, employment opportunities, Harvard alumni mentor connections, and career fairs like the annual on-campus Harvard Humanities, Media, Marketing, and Creative Careers Expo.

Your Harvard University Degree

Upon successful completion of the required curriculum, you will earn the Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) in Extension Studies, Field: Creative Writing and Literature.

Expand Your Connections: the Harvard Alumni Network

As a graduate, you’ll become a member of the worldwide Harvard Alumni Association (400,000+ members) and Harvard Extension Alumni Association (29,000+ members).

Harvard is closer than one might think. You can be anywhere and still be part of this world.

Tuition & Financial Aid

Affordability is core to our mission. When compared to our continuing education peers, it’s a fraction of the cost.

After admission, you may qualify for financial aid . Typically, eligible students receive grant funds to cover a portion of tuition costs each term, in addition to federal financial aid options.

What can you do with a master’s degree in creative writing and literature?

A master’s degree in creative writing and literature prepares you for a variety of career paths in writing, literature, and communication — it’s up to you to decide where your interests will take you.

You could become a professional writer, editor, literary agent, marketing copywriter, or communications specialist.

You could also go the academic route and bring your knowledge to the classroom to teach creative writing or literature courses.

Is a degree in creative writing and literature worth it?

The value you find in our Creative Writing and Literature Master’s Degree Program will depend on your unique goals, interests, and circumstances.

The curriculum provides a range of courses that allow you to graduate with knowledge and skills transferable to various industries and careers.

How long does completing the creative writing and literature graduate program take?

Program length is ordinarily anywhere between 2 and 5 years. It depends on your preferred pace and the number of courses you want to take each semester.

For an accelerated journey, we offer year round study, where you can take courses in fall, January, spring, and summer.

While we don’t require you to register for a certain number of courses each semester, you cannot take longer than 5 years to complete the degree.

What skills do you need prior to applying for the creative writing and literature degree program?

Harvard Extension School does not require any specific skills prior to applying, but in general, it’s helpful to have solid reading, writing, communication, and critical thinking skills if you are considering a creative writing and literature master’s degree.

Initial eligibility requirements can be found on our creative writing and literature master’s degree requirements page .

Harvard Division of Continuing Education

The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) at Harvard University is dedicated to bringing rigorous academics and innovative teaching capabilities to those seeking to improve their lives through education. We make Harvard education accessible to lifelong learners from high school to retirement.

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• International Student
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• Study Creative Writing in the US

Fame, fortune and the red carpet are just a few of the potential benefits creative writing for entertainment can offer. Artistic freedom and the ability to work wherever a computer is available are a few others but the real reward is getting to witness your creation anywhere and everywhere. International students looking to study in the US are encouraged to join the media revolution and study creative writing for entertainment.

Imagine being on the set of a multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbuster as your favorite celebrity turns directly to the camera and coyly delivers a line that you wrote or being in a coffee shop and overhearing a group of people chatting about the hottest new video game that you wrote the story for. Whether for big-budget Hollywood films, video games, primetime T.V. shows or advertising catchphrases that become pop culture slogans, the entertainment industry needs writers. Study creative writing for entertainment in the US and be a part of an industry that is not only always growing, but that surrounds us daily.

Creative writing for entertainment not only takes imagination, but also the knowledge and experience of how to craft a story out of a creative idea. Finding the right university can be a challenge for any international student, but getting a degree from professionals in a field of interest is truly a great guide for any international student, especially ones trying to write for the entertainment industry. With new forms of media constantly appearing in the digital age, working with professors to focus your creative writing style to fit a specific form of media can be essential to having a successful career.

There are 328 accredited creative writing schools in almost every state in the US, according to Education News, so opportunities to pursue a career in this field are vast. Salaries for creative writing majors increased 14 percent from 2006 to 2010 making it a continually lucrative profession. A profession with consistency should be key for any student trying to decide on a future career path and the entertainment industry is always growing.

If you need additional funding to study creative writing, explore financial resource options like scholarships and loans.

Two popular university programs to study creative writing for entertainment in the US are screenwriting programs in the heart of the entertainment industry itself, L.A. Los Angeles is not only a city where the temperature is as glamorous as the movie stars, but also boasts some of the best media schools in the country. These two schools were ranked in the Top 10 Best Academic Programs for Aspiring Screenwriters by The Independent: The University of Southern California and The University of California, Los Angeles.

The University of Southern California's (USC) School of Cinematic Arts offers an undergraduate and graduate program in writing for screen and television. This program is staffed by professors firmly established in the entertainment industry. General education requirements for undergrad's applying to this program include foreign language and diversity classes which are perfect for international students and encourage a more culturally diverse learning experience. The writing for screen and television program at USC is selectively filled with student writers from all over the world and is one of the best of its kind in the country, but that's not all that L.A. has to offer.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has a world-renowned screenwriting program that has been established for over 45 years and whose graduates include multiple award-winning writers like Francis Ford Coppola (director of The Godfather), and Eric Roth (screenwriter of Forrest Gump). While the screenwriting program offers a challenging and extensive masters of fine arts graduate program, UCLA also offers a one year professional program in screenwriting. This is a graduate-level, non-degree program that is aimed at students who are ready to get started in the business without having to obtain further critical studies and prerequisite classes required for a formal degree. It is under the umbrella of the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television, and offers an interesting alternative to the formal masters program.

In the 21st century, we live in an international world linked by media. The US is constantly in need of international individuals wanting to study creative writing for entertainment in the US to introduce diverse and global perspectives to modern media. The technological revolution of the past twenty years has created an unprecedented opportunity for writers to disseminate their creative material over a wide variety of media platforms that lead us into the future.

Creative Writing Programs

Visit the Study in the USA School search to find schools that offer programs of study in Creative Writing.

Find Schools Now

Featured Schools with Creative Writing Programs

Learn more about studying creative writing in the USA by reading our growing article collection:

• What is Creative Writing?
• Where to Study Creative Writing
• Undergraduate Degree in Creative Writing
• Master's Degree in Creative Writing
• Creative Writing Internships
• Careers in Creative Writing
• Application Process for Creative Writing Degrees
• Top Schools for Creative Writing

« Study Guide by Subject  

Over time we will be updating this section and including more information for those who want to study creative writing in the USA and for other countries, but please feel free to post your thoughts and comments on our Facebook fan page , and also follow us and post questions through Twitter .

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100 Best colleges for Creative Writing in the United States

Updated: February 29, 2024

• Art & Design
• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Liberal Arts & Social Sciences
• Mathematics

Below is a list of best universities in the United States ranked based on their research performance in Creative Writing. A graph of 1.47M citations received by 121K academic papers made by 427 universities in the United States was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

Please note that our approach to subject rankings is based on scientific outputs and heavily biased on art-related topics towards institutions with computer science research profiles.

1. Columbia University

For Creative Writing

2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

3. University of Texas at Austin

4. Stanford University

5. University of California - Berkeley

6. Yale University

7. Pennsylvania State University

8. Ohio State University

9. University of Southern California

10. New York University

11. University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign

12. University of Wisconsin - Madison

13. University of Chicago

14. University of California - Los Angeles

15. Arizona State University - Tempe

16. Cornell University

17. Harvard University

18. University of Pennsylvania

19. University of Washington - Seattle

20. University of Virginia

21. Emory University

22. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

23. University of Maryland - College Park

24. University of Arizona

25. Princeton University

26. Michigan State University

27. University of South Florida

28. University of California - Santa Barbara

29. Rutgers University - New Brunswick

30. Boston College

31. University of California - Irvine

32. University of Illinois at Chicago

33. Florida State University

34. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

35. University of Pittsburgh

36. University of California - Santa Cruz

37. University of Notre Dame

38. Temple University

39. Northwestern University

40. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

41. University of Florida

42. Vanderbilt University

43. Carnegie Mellon University

44. Georgetown University

45. Boston University

46. University of California-San Diego

47. University of Utah

48. Indiana University - Bloomington

49. University of Iowa

50. Duke University

51. University of Kansas

52. Washington University in St Louis

53. University of Nebraska - Lincoln

54. North Carolina State University at Raleigh

55. University of Missouri - Columbia

56. Iowa State University

57. California University of Pennsylvania

58. University of California - Davis

59. Brigham Young University - Provo

60. University of Georgia

61. Johns Hopkins University

62. University of Colorado Boulder

63. University of Connecticut

64. Texas A&M University - College Station

65. University of Massachusetts - Amherst

66. University of Tennessee - Knoxville

67. CUNY Graduate School and University Center

68. University of Houston

69. University at Buffalo

70. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

71. Georgia Institute of Technology

72. University of Kentucky

73. University of California - San Francisco

74. Case Western Reserve University

75. Georgia State University

76. University of Oklahoma - Norman

77. University of Central Florida

78. University of North Carolina at Charlotte

79. Syracuse University

80. Bowling Green State University

81. Miami University - Oxford

82. University of Alabama

83. SUNY at Albany

84. Tufts University

85. Kent State University at Kent

86. Stony Brook University

87. George Washington University

88. University of Rochester

89. Texas Tech University

90. George Mason University

91. Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

92. San Jose State University

93. University of Memphis

94. San Diego State University

95. Loyola University Chicago

96. University of Oregon

97. Providence College

98. Wayne State University

99. University of Cincinnati

100. Purdue University

The best cities to study Creative Writing in the United States based on the number of universities and their ranks are New York , Ann Arbor , Austin , and Stanford .

Art & Design subfields in the United States

• Best Colleges
• Application Advice

• Hidden Gem Colleges

The 10 Best Creative Writing MFA Programs in the US

The talent is there. 

But the next generation of great American writers needs a collegial place to hone their craft. 

They need a place to explore the writer’s role in a wider community. 

They really need guidance about how and when to publish. 

All these things can be found in a solid Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing degree program. This degree offers access to mentors, to colleagues, and to a future in the writing world. 

A good MFA program gives new writers a precious few years to focus completely on their work, an ideal space away from the noise and pressure of the fast-paced modern world. 

We’ve found ten of the best ones, all of which provide the support, the creative stimulation, and the tranquility necessary to foster a mature writer.

We looked at graduate departments from all regions, public and private, all sizes, searching for the ten most inspiring Creative Writing MFA programs. 

Each of these ten institutions has assembled stellar faculties, developed student-focused paths of study, and provide robust support for writers accepted into their degree programs. 

To be considered for inclusion in this list, these MFA programs all must be fully-funded degrees, as recognized by Read The Workshop .

Creative Writing education has broadened and expanded over recent years, and no single method or plan fits for all students. 

Today, MFA programs across the country give budding short story writers and poets a variety of options for study. For future novelists, screenwriters – even viral bloggers – the search for the perfect setting for their next phase of development starts with these outstanding institutions, all of which have developed thoughtful and particular approaches to study.

So where will the next Salinger scribble his stories on the steps of the student center, or the next Angelou reading her poems in the local bookstore’s student-run poetry night? At one of these ten programs.

Here are 10 of the best creative writing MFA programs in the US.

University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)

Starting off the list is one of the oldest and most venerated Creative Writing programs in the country, the MFA at the University of Oregon. 

Longtime mentor, teacher, and award-winning poet Garrett Hongo directs the program, modeling its studio-based approach to one-on-one instruction in the English college system. 

Oregon’s MFA embraces its reputation for rigor. Besides attending workshops and tutorials, students take classes in more formal poetics and literature.  

A classic college town, Eugene provides an ideal backdrop for the writers’ community within Oregon’s MFA students and faculty.  

Tsunami Books , a local bookseller with national caché, hosts student-run readings featuring writers from the program. 

Graduates garner an impressive range of critical acclaim; Yale Younger Poet winner Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Cave Canem Prize winner and Guggenheim fellow Major Jackson, and PEN-Hemingway Award winner Chang-Rae Lee are noteworthy alumni. 

With its appealing setting and impressive reputation, Oregon’s MFA program attracts top writers as visiting faculty, including recent guests Elizabeth McCracken, David Mura, and Li-young Lee.

The individual approach defines the Oregon MFA experience; a key feature of the program’s first year is the customized reading list each MFA student creates with their faculty guide. 

Weekly meetings focus not only on the student’s writing, but also on the extended discovery of voice through directed reading. 

Accepting only ten new students a year—five in poetry and five in fiction— the University of Oregon’s MFA ensures a close-knit community with plenty of individual coaching and guidance.

Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)

Cornell University’s MFA program takes the long view on life as a writer, incorporating practical editorial training and teaching experience into its two-year program.

Incoming MFA students choose their own faculty committee of at least two faculty members, providing consistent advice as they move through a mixture of workshop and literature classes. 

Students in the program’s first year benefit from editorial training as readers and editors for Epoch , the program’s prestigious literary journal.

Teaching experience grounds the Cornell program. MFA students design and teach writing-centered undergraduate seminars on a variety of topics, and they remain in Ithaca during the summer to teach in programs for undergraduates. 

Cornell even allows MFA graduates to stay on as lecturers at Cornell for a period of time while they are on the job search. Cornell also offers a joint MFA/Ph.D. program through the Creative Writing and English departments.

Endowments fund several acclaimed reading series, drawing internationally known authors to campus for workshops and work sessions with MFA students. 

Recent visiting readers include Salman Rushdie, Sandra Cisneros, Billy Collins, Margaret Atwood, Ada Limón, and others. 

Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ)

Arizona State’s MFA in Creative Writing spans three years, giving students ample time to practice their craft, develop a voice, and begin to find a place in the post-graduation literary world. 

Coursework balances writing and literature classes equally, with courses in craft and one-on-one mentoring alongside courses in literature, theory, or even electives in topics like fine press printing, bookmaking, or publishing. 

While students follow a path in either poetry or fiction, they are encouraged to take courses across the genres.

Teaching is also a focus in Arizona State’s MFA program, with funding coming from teaching assistantships in the school’s English department. Other exciting teaching opportunities include teaching abroad in locations around the world, funded through grants and internships.

The Virginia C. Piper Center for Creative Writing, affiliated with the program, offers Arizona State MFA students professional development in formal and informal ways. 

The Distinguished Writers Series and Desert Nights, Rising Stars Conference bring world-class writers to campus, allowing students to interact with some of the greatest in the profession. Acclaimed writer and poet Alberto Ríos directs the Piper Center.

Arizona State transitions students to the world after graduation through internships with publishers like Four Way Books. 

Its commitment to the student experience and its history of producing acclaimed writers—recent examples include Tayari Jones (Oprah’s Book Club, 2018; Women’s Prize for Fiction, 2019), Venita Blackburn ( Prairie Schooner Book Prize, 2018), and Hugh Martin ( Iowa Review Jeff Sharlet Award for Veterans)—make Arizona State University’s MFA a consistent leader among degree programs.

University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)

The University of Texas at Austin’s MFA program, the Michener Center for Writers, maintains one of the most vibrant, exciting, active literary faculties of any MFA program.

Denis Johnson D.A. Powell, Geoff Dyer, Natasha Trethewey, Margot Livesey, Ben Fountain: the list of recent guest faculty boasts some of the biggest names in current literature.

This three-year program fully funds candidates without teaching fellowships or assistantships; the goal is for students to focus entirely on their writing. 

More genre tracks at the Michener Center mean students can choose two focus areas, a primary and secondary, from Fiction, Poetry, Screenwriting, and Playwriting.

The Michener Center for Writers plays a prominent role in contemporary writing of all kinds. 

The hip, student-edited Bat City Review accepts work of all genres, visual art, cross genres, collaborative, and experimental pieces.  

Recent events for illustrious alumni include New Yorker publications, an Oprah Book Club selection, a screenwriting prize, and a 2021 Pulitzer (for visiting faculty member Mitchell Jackson). 

In this program, students are right in the middle of all the action of contemporary American literature.

Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

The MFA in Creative Writing at Washington University in St. Louis is a program on the move: applicants have almost doubled here in the last five years. 

Maybe this sudden growth of interest comes from recent rising star alumni on the literary scene, like Paul Tran, Miranda Popkey, and National Book Award winner Justin Phillip Reed.

Or maybe it’s the high profile Washington University’s MFA program commands, with its rotating faculty post through the Hurst Visiting Professor program and its active distinguished reader series. 

Superstar figures like Alison Bechdel and George Saunders have recently held visiting professorships, maintaining an energetic atmosphere program-wide.

Washington University’s MFA program sustains a reputation for the quality of the mentorship experience. 

With only five new students in each genre annually, MFA candidates form close cohorts among their peers and enjoy attentive support and mentorship from an engaged and vigorous faculty. 

Three genre tracks are available to students: fiction, poetry, and the increasingly relevant and popular creative nonfiction.

Another attractive feature of this program: first-year students are fully funded, but not expected to take on a teaching role until their second year. 

A generous stipend, coupled with St. Louis’s low cost of living, gives MFA candidates at Washington University the space to develop in a low-stress but stimulating creative environment.

Indiana University (Bloomington, IN)

It’s one of the first and biggest choices students face when choosing an MFA program: two-year or three-year? 

Indiana University makes a compelling case for its three-year program, in which the third year of support allows students an extended period of time to focus on the thesis, usually a novel or book-length collection.

One of the older programs on the list, Indiana’s MFA dates back to 1948. 

Its past instructors and alumni read like the index to an American Literature textbook. 

How many places can you take classes in the same place Robert Frost once taught, not to mention the program that granted its first creative writing Master’s degree to David Wagoner? Even today, the program’s integrity and reputation draw faculty like Ross Gay and Kevin Young.

Indiana’s Creative Writing program houses two more literary institutions, the Indiana Review, and the Indiana University Writers’ Conference. 

Students make up the editorial staff of this lauded literary magazine, in some cases for course credit or a stipend. An MFA candidate serves each year as assistant director of the much-celebrated and highly attended conference . 

These two facets of Indiana’s program give graduate students access to visiting writers, professional experience, and a taste of the writing life beyond academia.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Ann Arbor, MI)

The University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program cultivates its students with a combination of workshop-driven course work and vigorous programming on and off-campus. Inventive new voices in fiction and poetry consistently emerge from this two-year program.

The campus hosts multiple readings, events, and contests, anchored by the Zell Visiting Writers Series. The Hopgood Awards offer annual prize money to Michigan creative writing students . 

The department cultivates relationships with organizations and events around Detroit, so whether it’s introducing writers at Literati bookstore or organizing writing retreats in conjunction with local arts organizations, MFA candidates find opportunities to cultivate a community role and public persona as a writer.

What happens after graduation tells the big story of this program. Michigan produces heavy hitters in the literary world, like Celeste Ng, Jesmyn Ward, Elizabeth Kostova, Nate Marshall, Paisley Rekdal, and Laura Kasischke. 

Their alumni place their works with venerable houses like Penguin and Harper Collins, longtime literary favorites Graywolf and Copper Canyon, and the new vanguard like McSweeney’s, Fence, and Ugly Duckling Presse.

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)

Structure combined with personal attention and mentorship characterizes the University of Minnesota’s Creative Writing MFA, starting with its unique program requirements. 

In addition to course work and a final thesis, Minnesota’s MFA candidates assemble a book list of personally significant works on literary craft, compose a long-form essay on their writing process, and defend their thesis works with reading in front of an audience.

Literary journal Great River Review and events like the First Book reading series and Mill City Reading series do their part to expand the student experience beyond the focus on the internal. 

The Edelstein-Keller Visiting Writer Series draws exceptional, culturally relevant writers like Chuck Klosterman and Claudia Rankine for readings and student conversations. 

Writer and retired University of Minnesota instructor Charles Baxter established the program’s Hunger Relief benefit , aiding Minnesota’s Second Harvest Heartland organization. 

Emblematic of the program’s vision of the writer in service to humanity, this annual contest and reading bring together distinguished writers, students, faculty, and community members in favor of a greater goal.

Brown University (Providence, RI)

One of the top institutions on any list, Brown University features an elegantly-constructed Literary Arts Program, with students choosing one workshop and one elective per semester. 

The electives can be taken from any department at Brown; especially popular choices include Studio Art and other coursework through the affiliated Rhode Island School of Design. The final semester consists of thesis construction under the supervision of the candidate’s faculty advisor.

Brown is the only MFA program to feature, in addition to poetry and fiction tracks, the Digital/Cross Disciplinary track . 

This track attracts multidisciplinary writers who need the support offered by Brown’s collaboration among music, visual art, computer science, theater and performance studies, and other departments. 

The interaction with the Rhode Island School of Design also allows those artists interested in new forms of media to explore and develop their practice, inventing new forms of art and communication.

Brown’s Literary Arts Program focuses on creating an atmosphere where students can refine their artistic visions, supported by like-minded faculty who provide the time and materials necessary to innovate. 

Not only has the program produced trailblazing writers like Percival Everett and Otessa Moshfegh, but works composed by alumni incorporating dance, music, media, and theater have been performed around the world, from the stage at Kennedy Center to National Public Radio.

University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)

When most people hear “MFA in Creative Writing,” it’s the Iowa Writers’ Workshop they imagine. 

The informal name of the University of Iowa’s Program in Creative Writing, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop was the first to offer an MFA, back in 1936. 

One of the first diplomas went to renowned writer Wallace Stegner, who later founded the MFA program at Stanford.

 It’s hard to argue with seventeen Pulitzer Prize winners and six U.S. Poets Laureate. The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is the root system of the MFA tree.

The two-year program balances writing courses with coursework in other graduate departments at the university. In addition to the book-length thesis, a written exam is part of the student’s last semester.

Because the program represents the quintessential idea of a writing program, it attracts its faculty positions, reading series, events, and workshops the brightest lights of the literary world. 

The program’s flagship literary magazine, the Iowa Review , is a lofty goal for writers at all stages of their career. 

At the Writers’ Workshop, tracks include not only fiction, poetry, playwriting, and nonfiction, but also Spanish creative writing and literary translation. Their reading series in association with Prairie Lights bookstore streams online and is heard around the world.

Iowa’s program came into being in answer to the central question posed to each one of these schools: can writing be taught? 

The answer for a group of intrepid, creative souls in 1936 was, actually, “maybe not.” 

But they believed it could be cultivated; each one of these institutions proves it can be, in many ways, for those willing to commit the time and imagination.

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• College essay

US College Essay Tips for International Students

Published on September 21, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on December 8, 2023.

Beyond your test scores and grades, the college essay is your opportunity to express your academic and personal character, writing skills, and ability to self-reflect.

You should use your unique culture and individual perspective to write a compelling essay with specific stories, a conversational tone, and correct grammar. Here are some basic guidelines on how to write a memorable college essay as an international student.

Table of contents

Research: how applying to us colleges is different, stories: show your strengths, tone: be conversational, but respectful, culture: write about what you know, language: use correct grammar, word choices, and sentence structures, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

The US college experience offers not only academic growth, but also campus community. While admissions officers use your grades and test scores as a baseline, they also use the college essay to further evaluate if you can add value to the academic community, student body, and campus culture.

The college essay, or personal statement, is a creative, personal piece of writing in its own genre. Rather than providing a broad overview of your life, personal essays are often centered around a specific narrative or theme.

The college essay may be the deciding factor in a student’s application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars. Many students spend weeks一even months一brainstorming, workshopping, writing, and revising their essays to produce an original, compelling story.

Before starting your essay, you should take time to brainstorm topics and research your desired schools’ academic programs and campus cultures. Then, you can start outlining why you’re a good fit for a particular university.

Some colleges also require supplemental essays (e.g. diversity essays , “Why this college?” essays ), which must be submitted along with the college application. Scholarship essays are also worth writing, as many students overlook this opportunity. Research deadlines early, and create a college application timeline and checklist . Or check out our guide to writing fast if you’re running low on time.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Just being an international student isn’t enough to be competitive in a pool of both US and international applicants. To write a memorable essay, share specific stories that illustrate your strengths not only as an international student, but also as an individual within your culture. You should add details about your life that aren’t apparent in your application.

In South Korea, school is war. Similar to Battle Royale , students viciously compete, not for their life, but for their futures. From 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., I study either in school, an after-school academy, or my room. With no time to spare, I eat my meals over my textbooks while memorizing chemical compounds or geometry theorems. My bathroom breaks are like short breaths before I dive back underwater into the vast sea of knowledge that I must conquer before it drowns me. Among this chaos, I find solace twice a week with my online English tutor, Catherine. Her stories of college in Boston help me to imagine a reality where classmates can be collaborators, not competitors. Rather than memorization drills and one-sided lectures, I imagine a lively discussion between pupil and professor. As we converse in English about my future dreams, I get a taste of what it’s like to be not a prisoner to knowledge, but a friend.

American student-teacher relationships are much less formal than those in many other countries. US universities value student-professor discussion, debate, and collaboration.

Similarly, college application essays are less formal than other kinds of academic writing. You should use a conversational yet respectful tone, as if speaking with a teacher or mentor. Be honest about your feelings, thoughts, and experiences to connect with the admissions officer. To improve the tone of your essay you can use a paraphrasing tool .

• Firstly, I would like to elaborate on how my family moved from Xizhou to Beijing.
• When I was just five, my family and I left behind our tranquil village in southwest China to make a new home in the vast, bustling capital of Beijing.

As an international student, you have a wealth of culture that you can share with admissions officers. Instead of potentially using American idioms and cultural references awkwardly, write in detail about yourself within your own culture.

Make sure to explain any words, customs, or places that an American admissions officer might not be familiar with. Provide context to help your reader understand the significance of what you’re writing about.

While drowsiness still clouds my thoughts and vision, I trudge over to the bathroom to wash before Fajr , the Islamic dawn prayer. While my mouth still reeks of last night’s kabsa , a Saudi dish of rice and meat, my older sister prances out of the bathroom with sleek, long hair, flawless makeup, and a TikTok-ready outfit. While softly humming BTS’s “DNA,” she picks up a comb and begins to skillfully tackle the labyrinth that has taken over my head. Twenty minutes later, she manages to tame my wild, frizzy mane into an elegant French braid. Sara always knows how to make beauty out of chaos.

Admissions officers don’t expect your English writing skills to be perfect, but your essay should demonstrate a strong command of grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structures. Remember to use US English rather than UK English .

Choose your words carefully. You can be creative in your word choice, but don’t use elaborate vocabulary to impress admissions officers; focus on language that you know well so that your writing sounds natural and genuine. Prioritize simple sentence structures for clarity.

If English is not your first language, it’s a good idea to have a native speaker check your essay. You can also use our essay checker .

If you want 100% accuracy, you may want to consider working with a qualified editor or essay coach who can check your grammar, tone, cultural references, and content. Scribbr’s college essay editors can help.

Explore the essay editing service

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

Admissions officers use college admissions essays to evaluate your character, writing skills , and ability to self-reflect . The essay is your chance to show what you will add to the academic community.

The college essay may be the deciding factor in your application , especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

Some colleges also require supplemental essays about specific topics, such as why you chose that specific college . Scholarship essays are often required to obtain financial aid .

College application essays are less formal than other kinds of academic writing . Use a conversational yet respectful tone , as if speaking with a teacher or mentor. Be vulnerable about your feelings, thoughts, and experiences to connect with the reader.

Aim to write in your authentic voice , with a style that sounds natural and genuine. You can be creative with your word choice, but don’t use elaborate vocabulary to impress admissions officers.

If you’re an international student applying to a US college and you’re comfortable using American idioms or cultural references , you can. But instead of potentially using them incorrectly, don’t be afraid to write in detail about yourself within your own culture.

Provide context for any words, customs, or places that an American admissions officer might be unfamiliar with.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Courault, K. (2023, December 08). US College Essay Tips for International Students. Scribbr. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/college-essay/international-us-college-essay/

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9 Universities in the USA offering Academic Writing degrees and courses

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Millersville University

University of nebraska-omaha, columbia university.

THE World Ranking: 17

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Desales University

Northwestern University

THE World Ranking: 28

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California College of The Arts

University of Texas At El Paso

THE World Ranking: 801

There are more Academic Writing courses available in North America

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Masters in Creative Writing in the USA in 2024

Want to see undergraduate courses? See undergraduate degrees in Creative Writing in the USA

Don't meet the entry requirements for these courses? Learn more about pathway programme options .

Masters in Creative Writing in the USA

If you love to write, then pursuing a higher education in creative writing will give you a fantastic opportunity to expand on your writing skills and pursue a career in writing. Genres such as poetry, fiction, non-fiction and writing for stage and TV can be covered in your studies and you will be able to build up a body of work and a writing style all of your own.

Graduates of masters degrees in creative writing can go on to become published novelists, creators of screenplays for TV & film, work in video game story creation, work in journalism and much more.

Your masters degree will be delivered through lectures and seminars, with a possibility of group projects. Modules you study might include:

• Reviewing literary techniques
• Developing your writing skills
• Beginning work on your own novel/short stories or poetry
• Optional modules focusing on specific genre of writing

With over 1.1 million international students choosing the USA as their higher education destination each year, the country is one of the most popular study abroad destinations in the world. There are consistently many USA based universities and colleges ranked within the top 100 in the QS World University rankings, and it is not uncommon for the top 10 rankings to be dominated by American universities as well. As one of the biggest countries in the world, you will have many choices when it comes to deciding where you want to study abroad.

Sign up to StudyLink.com, the home of quality study abroad advice.

Other Postgraduate Creative Arts, Design & Communication courses in the USA

• Theatre masters
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International study advice

Find out more about the range of subjects that you can study at institutions around the world with our subject guides.

Read StudyLink's suggestions on your first steps when deciding where to study abroad, with helpful tips to make your decision easier.

International students finding it difficult to meet conditions of eligibility criteria can choose to enrol in pre-masters courses before applying for a masters degree programme.

Find out more about English language tests, your options and what is required as an overseas student.

Read more about studying abroad, and how it can boost your future career prospects.

Writing Courses in US

Get ready to change your future when you decide to study Writing in United States.

People who have studied abroad said it not only improved their confidence but also gave them a better understanding of their cultural values and taught them worthwhile skills that influenced their future career.

When you decide to study in United States, you can access universities that rank highly in Writing, improving your job prospects. You also get the opportunity to stay back in United States once you’ve graduated with a post-study work visa. There are plenty of universities on offer. Choose from 35 institutions and 51 courses.

The time is now to study abroad. It’s worth it, we promise.

Top 10 Writing universities in United States

• Texas State University
• Miami University
• New York Institute of Technology
• Southwest Minnesota State University
• State University of New York Plattsburgh
• University of Idaho
• University of La Verne
• University of Nebraska Omaha
• Washington State University
• Wichita State University

Writing fees in United States

Tution fees will make up a large chunk of your costs. These will vary depending on which university you decide to study at, so do make sure you check with the institution.

There are also plenty of options to help cover the costs, such as scholarships. These can cover some or all tuition fees and other living expenses.

In general, you can expect tuition fees to range from:

• Minimum fees in Writing in United States - £5,544
• Maximum fees Writing in United States - £36,434

Student’s visa cost for studying Writing in United States

You need a student visa to study in United States. Please see the table below for how much you will need to pay for the application and other potential costs.

Studying Writing in United States eligibility criteria

When applying to study abroad in any country, the documents you need tend to be pretty similar.

Some will vary depending on the institution, but we’ve outlined below the core documents you’ll need to make your application.

• Academic transcripts
• Application form
• Letter of recommendation
• English language proficiency test scores
• Statement of purpose
• Admissions test results

Post-study work permit after completing Writing qualification in United States

You’ll be pleased to know that once you’ve completed Writing qualification in United States you’ll be eligible to stay back and see work!

This is an excellent opportunity to put your degree to good use and begin your career. See the table below for how long you get to stay:

Top Writing Courses in the United States

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Is a Writing degree hard in the United States?

Is it worth going to university in the united states for writing, why you choose united states rather than india to study writing, what do you need to study writing in the united states.

This can vary depending on the intuition, so ensure that you check. However, in general, you will need the following: 

• Statement of purpose 
• Admissions test results 
• Undergraduate Writing
• Postgraduate Writing

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Before your naturalization interview, study for the English and civics test by using our free resources to help you prepare.

English Test Overview

For the English portion of the naturalization test you must demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including the ability to read, write, and speak basic English.

• Your ability to speak and understand English will be determined by a USCIS officer during your eligibility interview on Form N-400, Application for Naturalization .
• For the reading test, you must read out loud one out of three sentences correctly to demonstrate an ability to read in English.
• For the writing test, you must write one out of three sentences correctly to demonstrate an ability to write in English.

Civics Test (2008 Version) The civics portion of the naturalization test is an oral test. The USCIS officer will ask you up to 10 questions from the list of 100 civics test questions. You must answer 6 questions correctly to pass the civics test.

For more information, refer to the  USCIS Policy Manual Volume 12, Part E, English and Civics Testing and Exceptions, Chapter 2, English and Civics Testing

65/20 Special Consideration

If you are 65 years old or older and have been living in the United States as a lawful permanent resident of the United States for 20 or more years, you may study just the 20 questions that have been marked with an asterisk (*). You may also take the naturalization test in the language of your choice. For more information, see  exceptions and accommodations or the  USCIS Policy Manual Citizenship and Naturalization Guidance .

Note: On the naturalization test, some answers may change because of elections or appointments. You must answer the question with the name of the official serving at the time of your naturalization interview. For the answers to these specific questions, please visit the  Civics Test Updates  page.

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The amount of money Americans think they need to retire comfortably hits record high: study

Inflation has crept into every part of Americans’ lives, including how much they now think they need to retire comfortably : a record $1.46 million, a study released on Tuesday said.

That’s a 53% surge since the $951,000 target Americans reported in 2020 and a 15% increase from last year’s $1.27 million, according to Northwestern Mutual’s 2024 Planning & Progress Study which polled 4,588 adults in January.

The jump hasn’t spurred Americans to save more, though. The average amount that U.S. adults have saved for retirement dropped modestly to $88,400 from $89,300 in 2023 but that is more than $10,000 off the five-year peak of $98,800 in 2021, the study said. The dip in savings brings the gap between what people think they need for retirement and what they’ve saved to $1.37 million.

“People’s ‘magic number’ to retire comfortably has exploded to an all-time high, and the gap between their goals and progress has never been wider,” said Aditi Javeri Gokhale, chief strategy officer, president of retail investments and head of institutional investments at Northwestern Mutual. “Inflation is expanding our expectations for retirement savings.”

What we think we need in retirement and what we’ve saved

Every generation shows a large gap between what its members believe they’ll need for a comfortable retirement and the reality of what they have saved as of today, the study showed.

Protect your assets: Best high-yield savings accounts of 2023

◾ Gen Z expects it’ll need $1.63 million for retirement but has only saved $22,800 on average – a $1.61 million gap

◾ Millennials think they’ll need $1.65 million but have only saved $62,600 on average – a $1.59 million gap

◾ Gen X forecasts it’ll need $1.56 million but has saved on average $108,600 – a $1.45 million gap

◾ Boomers predict they'll need $990,000 but they've saved $120,300 on average – an $870,000 gap

Even high-net wealth people registered a wide gap. They expect they’ll need $3.93 million to fund their lifestyle in retirement but on average only have $172,100 saved, the study said.

How do savings tactics differ between generations?

Gen Z thinks the early bird catches the worm. They believe that by starting to save sooner, they’ll be able to retire earlier , the study said.

“Young people today recognize the value of retirement planning and building wealth early on in life and are getting a significant head start over their parents and grandparents,” said Gokhale.

Gen Z has, on average, started saving for retirement at age 22, nearly a decade earlier than the overall average age across generations of 31, the study said. Overall, the average age most people expect to retire is 65.

Boomers said they started saving at age 37, while Millennials began at 27 and Gen X at 31.

Gen Z expects to retire at age 60, a dozen years earlier than Boomers, four years earlier than Millennials and seven years sooner than Gen X.

In addition to saving earlier, Gen Z thinks it will live longer. Three in 10 Gen Zers and Millennials expect to celebrate their centennial birthday . That’s more than the number of Gen Xers (22%) and Boomers (21%) who think they’ll see 100 years, the study said.

Optimism for a long life and fear Social Security may run out are also "pushing up expectations for retirement savings," said Kyle Menke, founder and wealth management adviser with Northwestern Mutual’s Menke Financial. "Living a longer life is wonderful on many levels, but the challenge is to plan for it and pay for it."

Most people forget about taxes

Even though you must pay taxes through death, only 30% of Americans have a plan to minimize the taxes they pay on their retirement savings , the study said.

Never forget to plan around taxes: Tax diversification can help you save. Here's what to consider with your retirement funds.

“Putting money into a 401(k) may not be enough to retire comfortably if the financial plan doesn’t address the impact of taxes on retirement income,” Gokhale said. “Most people don’t realize that their retirement income will likely be taxed at 20% to 30% when they withdraw and spend it. When they recognize the impact, it’s often too late for them to adjust.”

Some top strategies people use to minimize taxes, the study says, include:

◾ Strategically withdrawing money from traditional and Roth accounts to remain in a lower tax bracket. Money from traditional accounts is taxed as income and Roth withdrawals are tax-free.

◾ Making a strategic charitable donation, which is tax-deductible as long as it comes directly from a taxable account.

◾ Using a Health Savings Account (HSA) or other tax-advantaged health care account to pay for medical expenses . Withdrawals for qualified expenses are tax-free.

Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and  subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter  for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.

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• Published: 03 April 2024

ChatGPT and the digitisation of writing

• Xin Zhao   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8968-6912 1 ,
• Andrew Cox 1 &
• Liang Cai 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  482 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Language and linguistics

The aim of this study is to uncover how students’ practices of writing in higher education are being impacted by ChatGPT. The use of ChatGPT and other generative AI needs to be set in the context of a longer-term process of the digitisation of writing, where many tools are being employed by students to support writing because it is a complex iterative process. Generative AI appears to have had a large impact on how students write, and we propose a model of generative AI literacy to assess their capabilities in doing so. Semi-structured interviews and observation data were collected at a British University with 23 students from diverse backgrounds, including the UK, USA, China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. The data was analysed thematically. It was found that students used ChatGPT alongside many other tools, and in rather individualistic ways often to address specific challenges they felt they had with writing. Their main concerns were around plagiarism, information inaccuracy and technology dependence. There was a relatively weak understanding or interest in the ethical issues around the exploitative and environmental impacts of generative AI. The social controversy around ChatGPT can be seen as a useful opportunity to engage students in a discussion about the digitisation of writing and promote AI literacy in this context.

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Introduction

The use of AI in education (AIEd) has been a discrete area of study for several decades, albeit the majority of studies have been from a technical development standpoint with less involvement of educators (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2019 ). Development of AIEd has tended to be concentrated on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (Guan et al., 2020 ). Use of such technologies in an educational context has not been without its critics (e.g. Selwyn, 2019 ). Meanwhile, AI has already made a relatively unheralded appearance in low-level features of much technology supporting everyday knowledge work such as search, recommendation, transcription and translation. It has also appeared increasingly within writing support tools, such as grammar checkers, as well as in plagiarism detection.

This picture of gradual change was dramatically disrupted in November 2022 by the launch of ChatGPT. Particularly in education, generative AI has created excitement but is also a considerable concern (Kasneci et al., 2023 , Trust et al., 2023 ; Lo, 2023 ). The usage figures of ChatGPT show an incredibly rapid rise in popularity and the potential benefits claimed for it are wide-ranging. Much of the fear has revolved around its potential impact on academic integrity. What is lacking to date are in-depth studies that explore how ChatGPT is actually used and experienced by students. Since it is in writing text that generative AI excels, and because writing is central to many forms of learning, including assessment, this paper focuses on how generative AI is changing how students write. With the increasing use of AI in many domains of activity there is a growing interest in defining AI literacy (Long and Magerko, 2020 ). We build on this work to propose a model of generative AI literacy as a framework to assess student use of ChatGPT in their writing.

In this context, the present study had the aim of uncovering how postgraduate students’ practices of writing were impacted by ChatGPT, with the specific research questions for the study being:

How were postgraduate students using ChatGPT and other digital writing tools for writing tasks in the summer of 2023?

What do students consider the benefits and problems of ChatGPT’s use?

What are the strengths and weaknesses in student generative AI literacy?

The digitisation of writing

The impacts of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT in education, need to be understood in the context of long-term digitisation of writing . The digitisation of writing is a major shift in writing as a fundamental process of expression and learning (Strobl et al. 2019 ). It carries particular significance because of the cultural value and status placed on good writing, particularly in some academic disciplines. Through the introduction of word processors, then spelling, grammar and style checking, then connectivity, and now generative AI tools, this digitisation process is having profound effects on writing, albeit they remain difficult to pinpoint because they are primarily mental rather than directly visible changes (Kruse and Rapp, 2019 ).

There has been an acceleration of this digitisation process in the last decade with the growing number of AI-powered writing assistants that are appearing. Godwin-Jones ( 2022 ) differentiates four types of such tools:

Automatic writing evaluation (AWE) which provides feedback on completed work;

Automatic written corrective feedback (AWCF) which offers synchronous feedback on spelling, grammar and or style as text is written;

Translation tools;

Text generation tools which create bodies of text from a short stimulus.

We could add to this other tools and apps used during the research process at the beginning of writing such as for search, text summarisation (e.g., Scholarcy, iris.ai, summarisebot) and literature reviewing (e.g., ResearchRabbit, Gecko, connectedpapers). There are also well-established tools for referencing which link search and reading to producing a final reference list for a completed assignment (e.g., EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, and Mendeley).

If writing as a process consists of the stages of “prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, and editing” (Strobl et al., 2019 , p. 38), then AWE and AWCF are mostly used in the latter two stages. Our previous research revealed, however, that rephrasing tools such as Wordtune are used both in improving text at the revision stage, but also in breaking through mental blocks in the early stages of writing or even planning (Zhao et al., 2023 ). Similarly, Malik et al. ( 2023 ) found Indonesian students also using a wide range of AI-based tools in their writing. Translation tools might also be used at various stages, such as in processing reading and drafting text (Zhao et al., 2024 ). So just as writing is a complex iterative process, the use of digital writing tools is complex. Our study of Wordtune also found it being commonly being combined with other writing tools (Zhao et al., 2023 ). While many such tools have multiple functionalities, they tend to be used for specific tasks for which they are best known. For example, many tools will offer some support for translation, but users tend to have a preferred tool for this function.

Thus, it is important to recognise that many learners were already using multiple tools at different stages of the writing process prior to the dramatic debut of ChatGPT, so the use of generative AI appears in a pre-existing landscape of digital writing. Yet the panoply of tools to support the writing process has been little analysed, particularly from the perspective of how they are used in practice and in conjunction with each other, during writing as a complex, iterative process.

Generative AI

ChatGPT’s launch has been a dramatic, potentially paradigm-shifting intervention, influencing how writing as a central aspect of learning is performed, but also the general perception of AI in Education. It has seen an extraordinary explosion of use, with a claimed 100 million users within two months of its launch (Trust et al., 2023 ). At the same time, it has been deeply controversial, particularly within education, and has been linked to many of the wider debates on the ethics of AI around bias, privacy and impact on society. Whereas the widespread use in the writing of tools such as Grammarly and Google Translate seems to have been tacitly accepted with relatively little controversy, ChatGPT has drawn huge debate to the digitisation of writing (Adeshola and Adepoju, 2023 ; AlAfnan et al., 2023 ; Memarian and Doleck, 2023 ). This may be partly because tools such as Turnitin have at least partly given teachers the lead in the “arms race” with unfair means. From an educational point of view, it is the impossibility of detecting generative AI’s use that makes it so controversial (Uzun, 2023 ).

Yet it is hard to deny the power and user-friendliness of ChatGPT. While it remains essentially a form of narrow AI (as opposed to a general AI that mimics the breadth of human intelligence), it does perform a wide range of tasks across the writing process, potentially composing a complete essay, but also including the ability to: summarise readings or a topic, produce an outline for a text, draft text, rewrite text in different styles or lengths, and check grammar and spelling (UNESCO, 2023 ). Thus, ChatGPT has the ability to write entire texts from a prompt or support specific processes in writing. In addition, it can also write computer code, solve math problems, etc. Yet ChatGPT, at least in its early manifestation, poses many informational and ethical problems (EPIC, 2023 ) (Table  1 ).

Some of these problems are being addressed in later versions of ChatGPT or in other text generation tools such as Bard or the new Bing. Moreover, they are not inherent to large language models but rather features of systems built by BigTech. Nevertheless, given the great AI capabilities of BigTech in terms of resources including data and so their power to define the definition of AI, we anticipate that users need to be aware of such potential issues.

AI literacy

In the last 5 years, there have been growing suggestions of the need to define AI literacy, because of the increasingly pervasive presence of AI in everyday lives and work. A widely cited definition is offered by Long and Magerko ( 2020 ):

We define AI literacy as a set of competencies that enables individuals to critically evaluate AI technologies; communicate and collaborate effectively with AI; and use AI as a tool online, at home, and in the workplace.

The authors break AI literacy down under five headings, with 17 components under those headings:

What AI is—this is knowledge such as how to recognise AI when it is encountered and understanding distinctions between general and narrow AI.

What it can do—this consists of differentiating the tasks AI is good at doing from those it is not good at, and also being able to imagine future uses, reflecting the evolving nature of AI.

How AI works—includes ideas such as representation and has an emphasis on data literacy, emphasising learning from data and the need for critical interpretation of data.

How it should be used—under which ethics is placed.

How people perceive it.

This is useful in contrasting to more technically oriented definitions such as that of Pinski and Benlian ( 2023 ) which lack the ethical and critical dimension. Another useful definition is offered by Ridley and Pawlick-Potts ( 2021 ) when they suggest that:

Algorithmic literacy is the skill, expertise, and awareness to, understand and reason about algorithms and their processes; recognise and interpret their use in systems (whether embedded or overt); create and apply algorithmic techniques and tools to problems in a variety of domains; assess the influence and effect of algorithms in social, cultural, economic, and political contexts; position the individual as a co-constituent in algorithmic decision-making.

This is a concise expression of the key aspects, integrating notions of algorithmic literacy, which focuses on the way that AI is often encountered indirectly through functions such as filtering and personalisation on online platforms. Levels of student AI literacy have been much investigated, often using Long and Magerko’s ( 2020 ) framework (e.g. Kong et al. 2022 ). However, most of this work was done before the advent of ChatGPT.

The capability of ChatGPT and other generative AI to create a significant body of content from a short prompt has shifted concepts of what AI is. We suggest that this implies the need to update our notion of AI literacy. In the light of the potential and critiques of the technology (discussed above), we can suggest that generative AI literacy might be defined under five headings:

Pragmatic understanding: The individual can use generative AI effectively and interpret the information it produces critically

The individual can pick the right tool for the task, in the context of the proliferation of writing tools (including alternative generative AI to ChatGPT)

The individual learns to use the chosen tool effectively for a specific task

Deciding where in the writing process to use it, e.g. for Search, brainstorming, structuring text etc

Uses the tool effectively through prompt engineering), such as by

Being CLEAR (concise, logical, explicit, adaptive and reflective) (Lo, 2023 )

Providing context for prompts posed

Defining what sort of answer is required

Rephrasing questions

Asking for sources used

Iterating and synthesising results

Updating their knowledge as tools develop rapidly

The individual interprets generative AI outputs critically, given an understanding of how they work and their limits

Information accuracy, currency, citeability

Safety understanding: The individual can use generative AI safely

Is aware of privacy risks

Reflective understanding: The individual can assess and take action to manage the impacts of AI on their experience in the educational context

Impacts on own skills and learning

Impacts on social connection, including the social aspects of learning

Socio-ethical understanding: The individual understands the societal impacts of AI, including

IPR issues relating to how models are trained

Impact on information culture, misinformation and disinformation

Social impacts such as through exploitative process of creation, and the impacts on jobs/ job enrichment

Equity of access

Environmental impacts

Implications of the undue power of BigTech

Contextual understanding: The individual understands how to use generative AI appropriately in a particular context and make their own use explicit, as appropriate

What is appropriate to context

How to make use transparent and cite appropriately

Generative AI in education

It has been education in particular that has been disrupted by the potential and risks of generative AI in 2023. Yet while much has been written about this in editorials and opinion pieces (Kasneci et al., 2023 ; Trust et al., 2023 ) usually to inform educators about how to use it, we are only at the beginning of learning its impact on student behaviour through empirical research. This is important because it seems likely that students have taken up its use far more quickly than teachers.

We do have a few early studies of use by students. A number of surveys by Best Colleges indicate that though US students had concerns about whether it was fair to use ChatGPT for assessments, they were using it and saw it as soon to become the norm (Welding, 2023 ). Chan and Hu ( 2023 ) found Hong Kong students positive about generative AI and willing to use it. This was partly because of its direct uses for brainstorming, individualised assistance with questions, and help with literature reviewing (such as summarisation). But their willingness to use it was partly because they saw it as representing long-term trends in technologies. They had concerns about its accuracy, the transparency of its working, the privacy of their data, the risk of becoming over-reliant, the impacts on employment and conflicts with human values. This accords well with a study by Attewell ( 2023 ) based on focus groups with UK students. This again found generative AI being used in a wide range of ways. A similar range of concerns were also expressed such as about the reliability of information from generative AI, privacy, equity of access and fears of becoming over-reliant on it. Students wanted educational institutions to have clearer policies and offer training in the use of generative AI. Interestingly, they also wanted student involvement in generating policy on AI.

If students are generally positive about ChatGPT’s use it is staff who express more concerns. Cardon et al. ( 2023 ) conducted a survey of business communication instructors. The main concern of this group of educators was that students would use it to cheat. But they saw a range of negative impacts on learning, such as

Less critical thinking/ creativity—itself seen as part of a wider malaise, and the crisis of creativity

Less writing skills

Less authenticity

Less agency because of dependence on such tools

Less commitment to authenticity in communication, such as valuing authorial voice and sincerity in communications

They also acknowledged that it can be helpful e.g. in the early stages of writing, and certainly enhanced the efficiency of writing. However they did believe such tools would be used in the workplace, so it was unavoidable that it had to be taught.

Methodology

To answer the research questions, we employed a qualitative methodology within the interpretivist paradigm. We used a combination of semi-structured interviews and observational techniques to gain an understanding of how students selectively employed digital tools in their writing processes and to understand their experiences and concerns regarding the use of generative AI. We recruited participants through an email invitation circulated to students asking for participants who were using “digital tools” for writing. We also asked interviewees to suggest other suitable participants. Our study included 23 participants of diverse nationalities, including students from the UK, China, India, Thailand, Japan, Greece, Malaysia, the USA, and other regions (Table  2 ). These students were pursuing a range of academic degrees, including postgraduate taught and postgraduate research programmes. All the participants were in the process of undertaking academic tasks, such as writing dissertations or theses. The interviews were conducted in the summer of 2023, this was before the university had issued its policy on AI use.

At the beginning of the interview, participants were asked to demonstrate their writing process for an academic essay/dissertation and explain how they use digital tools to support their writing. The second part of the interview participants were asked a series of questions, including about the tools they used during the writing process, how they had used ChatGPT, and what their concerns were about it, such as data privacy, inclusivity, accessibility, bias, ethics, and the potential impact of generative AI on education. Thematic Analysis served as our chosen method for analysing the qualitative data, enabling us to gain a nuanced understanding of students’ perceptions of digital writing and ChatGPT in particular (Braun and Clarke, 2006 ). The research received ethical approval from the University of Sheffield. Voluntary, informed consent was gained from participants. All the data were anonymised for the purposes of analysis and reporting.

Many tools used in the complex task of writing

One theme that emerged strongly from the data was that students were routinely using a wide range of digital tools (many with an AI component) throughout the academic writing process. The most commonly mentioned tools were grammar checkers (especially Grammarly), paraphrasing tools (Quillbot and Wordtune) and translation tools (e.g., DeepL and Google Translate). Somewhat less commonly other types of tools were in use such as for managing references (Endnote, MyBib) and plagiarism detection (Q-text).

Students who were native English speakers used more basic tools such as Word’s grammar checking or very specialist tools such as to manage references. In contrast, non-English speakers were using a wider range of tools, with considerable experience of having done so built up over time.

Such services seem to be used in quite individualistic ways and critically the impression was that their use had been learned from classmates, social media (such as Youtube or Little Red Book), and trial and error—rather than the institution and educators, although one individual was using Grammarly on supervisory advice.

Sometimes students paid a subscription for such tools; sometimes not. ChatGPT was the most frequently paid-for tool among all those mentioned.

ChatGPT: Used in many different ways

Interviewees talked about other tools as much as about ChatGPT and for these interviewees, it was early days with ChatGPT. Many had used it to only a limited extent. Nevertheless, there was evidence of ChatGPT being employed throughout the writing process. There were frequent mentions of uses to:

understand difficult concepts including understanding assignment briefs

summarise readings during the research process

suggest structures for writing

get words down on the page and break through a mental block

rephrase text and check grammar

Central uses that ChatGPT was uniquely good at was gaining an understanding of an assignment brief and then structuring ideas:

This is the topic and I first use ChatGPT to give me some idea about this topic. And actually, when I saw this topic, I didn’t really understand it. I use ChatGPT to give me some explanations. [9, Thailand]

So I asked it how to organise an essay about this topic. And then it gave me this structure. So I use this as a reference. [2, China]

Some also used it to check that the final text met the brief:

Then in writing or after writing, I would ask if this paragraph was in line with classwork requirements. I would send it all the requirements, and then ask it if I could write like this? [1, China]

Some used it for searching for literature.

I think the most difficult part of writing an essay is the idea you need to make your own opinions and you need to structure your essay but you need to find examples and literature to support your argument. If you just google it or search […] sometimes you can’t find much relevant information or only a few. […] You can just find less relevant information and articles but with ChatGPT, it will collect the most relevant information for you. [1, China].

For other tasks, such as summarising readings, rephrasing ideas into more academic language and grammar checking participants used other tools as much as ChatGPT. Grammarly, Quillbot, Wordtune and translation tools had heavy use in rewriting. Students tended to use ChatGPT for just one or a few of these tasks, not all of them, linked to which aspect of writing they found hardest.

Students’ individual explorations of the tool had produced quite distinct patterns of use, often linked to the areas of weakness they perceived in their own writing. For example, participant 23 emphasised using it to generate analogies to help them understand complex ideas in the context of moving to study computer science from another discipline:

If I don’t understand, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat until I understand and then proceed. And that is how my process is. It’s a lot of repetition, a lot of reclarifying myself and always detecting all this reading and fact checking. [23, Malaysia]

Participant 17 described using in complex way to support reading:

I would copy literally like a whole article into it and then say, summarise this in bullet points. I’ll then write it on a piece of paper because that just helps me to like process it in my head as I write the words. Um, and then after that, and then I’ll read the paper like normal [17, UK]

Participant 15 described using it directly in the writing process:

Sometimes if I’ve written something, what I do is I ask for a feedback and I ask or like, you know, if I want a paraphrasing also. So what I do is I prompt it by asking that the check for flow and paraphrase and then it will kind of give it suggestions and sometimes it adds its own things. And then if I don’t want something, I can just not have it. But most of the times what happens is you get a pretty good idea of like, you know, yeah, this is something good and then you can build up from there. So it gives you that initial kind of a boost and then it becomes easier to build your arguments or build your paragraphs. (15, India)

Participant 20 stands out as potentially using it in a way to simply write ideas for him. He talked about “delegating” tasks to it, constructing himself as in control of the process:

So when I break it down, so usually when I have an academic paper, say it’s 10 pages, I have one thought for each page, like one heading for each page in my head. And once I have that set, then I just start off with ChatGPT straight up. [20, India]

Such complex uses, often involved quite interactive exchanges. Participant 23 used the term “bouncing” ideas off it.

I always have sort of like a conversation with it. [23, Malaysia]

Indeed, one interesting dimension of these interactions was the sense that the experience was something quite close to discussing with another human.

Just directly ask a question. Yes. As if I’m asking a human being. [22, China]

But always, always, always remember it is still a tool. It is not a living being. That is that’s why I keep reminding myself it’s not a living being. Always cross check your back. [23, Malaysia]

The quote implies a genuine struggle not to see ChatGPT as human. Equally, the value of ChatGPT was often linked to not needing to ask tutors or peers for help. Of course, it also gives immediate responses unlike them, but it raises the question of how ChatGPT is impacting the social dimension of learning.

ChatGPT was also being commonly used for non-academic writing, such as for job applications. Several interviewees mentioned using it for computer coding. There were also very specific uses, such as for converting text to Latex.

ChatGPT benefits and worries

The way that they described it, ChatGPT and the other digital tools they used, gave participants a sense of being more efficient and productive.

Thinking about it, basically, there is no big change, because there are still steps in writing, mainly those steps, but the efficiency has been improved. [1, China]

I think he saves me a lot of time when I’m reading like reference that’s really long. Helps me summarise it. I think it’s really efficient. [11, China]

This discourse implied that it did not really change what they did or learned, just speeded the process up and saved them time. This may be a rationalisation and disguise the loss of learning that the “efficiencies” might cause. A lot of the discourse around needing to use tools revolved around “laziness” but also a sense of a lack of confidence and anxiety. Using ChatGPT was often justified for reducing stress.

I’ll say I feel less stressful because we get to work more efficiently by using the tools, by using AI tools compared to the traditional way. [11, China]

There was a sense of ChatGPT being the future and there is an inevitability to it overtaking “traditional” learning practices.

Ten years ago, study style, study style, and the current one is very different. [23, Malaysia]

Yet, while it was being used rather extensively our participants were wary of ChatGPT for a number of reasons. Three were mentioned by most interviewees. The first was the unreliability of the information it output and the need to “fact check” it. There was less mention of specific issues such as failing to acknowledge sources or making up references. A second major concern was that its use would be detected by plagiarism detection tools (a concern they held regardless of the fact that it is generally not detectable). More positively participant 19 wanted to preserve her “voice”

I feel like it doesn’t sound like me and I do want to write in my own voice or in my own words as much as I can. [19, India]

Similarly, participant 23 thought that ChatGPT created a text that often read as “auto-generated” [23] so would not use it in many contexts, e.g. writing job applications because it would not effectively differentiate them from other candidates. Implicitly, they did not see this as a problem in the context of academic writing, suggesting that they did not see individuality as valued in that context.

There were certainly some students who did see using ChatGPT as impacting their learning:

But it sometimes it stopped me from thinking. [12, China]

It will reduce the ability to think independently, that is, reduce the motivation to think independently. Some things need to be understood by yourself. [5, China]

Thus a third major concern was a fear that the use of tools in general produced dependence. There were also a few comments that showed awareness of the risk to privacy of putting personal information into ChatGPT.

Nearly all the concerns reflected on personal impact. Disappointingly, the societal impacts of ChatGPT were not often acknowledged. One interviewee expressed concerns about the impact on low-paid workers. But even when prompted the participants showed little awareness or concern about bias, or ethical issues, e.g., sustainability or the exploitative labour relations used to create ChatGPT. Nevertheless, it seemed that the controversy around ChatGPT had filtered through to problematising its use, in ways that were expressed far less in relation to other tools such as Grammarly.

The findings confirm our earlier work from before the release of ChatGPT, that a wide range of tools is used during the writing process (Zhao et al., 2023 ). Perhaps ChatGPT will displace other tools, but at the time the study was conducted it was reaching a community of users well-versed in using digital tools. It was finding a unique place in helping understand assignment questions, aligning answers to the question and structuring ideas, but was also used to perform tasks such as summarisation and proofreading that others performed with pre-existing tools. Our findings suggested that students with higher English proficiency levels tended to use AI tools less frequently.

The study confirms previous research, that students are keen to use generative AI and see it as part of a general trend in technology development (Chan and Hu, 2023 ). Our respondents tended to use discourses around time-saving, efficiency, and stress avoidance as justification for using the tools.

ChatGPT was used rather intensively and iteratively but in highly individualistic ways. This differential use may reflect that there was little input at this time from the institution to help students how to use and where to draw the line in terms of appropriate use. Students wanted guidance from the institution on ChatGPT, echoing Attewell’s ( 2023 ) findings.

ChatGPT has brought advanced functions to digital writing but also intensified a sense of controversy in this area. For students, the worries focussed particularly on the unreliability of information it produced, fear of being accused of plagiarism if they used it and a concern about growing dependence on technology. While often its use was claimed to be justified for its time and stress reduction this may have underestimated the overall impact on learning. Saving time on learning tasks may unintentionally remove significant opportunities to learn. Many of the deeper ethical and societal issues such as around the exploitative way ChatGPT was developed were not fully understood. Yet it was clear that how writing was done digitally had become controversial. This could be seen as a benefit of ChatGPT, in that a gradual infiltration of digital tools into writing was made more visible institutionally and the controversial dimensions of technology use in education brought to the fore.

Using the model developed above we can point to strengths and weaknesses in students’ emergent generative AI literacy (Table  3 ).

Overall our student interviewees showed significant generative AI literacy in most areas, particularly when considering it was early days with their use of it and almost none of them had received support from their teachers or from their institution in understanding how to use it. The weakest area of development was probably appreciation of the societal impacts of generative AI. As instructors catch up with students in understanding AI hopefully they can help students build up a more systematic understanding of pragmatic use of AI, a more reflective approach and a much more critical awareness of the social implications of AI.

While ChatGPT appears as a threat to longstanding practices in education, especially to some genres of academic writing such as essays, it can also be seen as productively bringing to the fore the controversial nature of AI writing technologies which were already creeping unacknowledged into common use. This context produces an opportunity for educators to actively engage with students in a discussion about how writing can be best supported. Our analysis points to areas of weakness in generative AI literacy that need to be strengthened through this process, such as the understanding of the need to select between apps, to have more sophisticated prompt engineering skills, to think more about bias in results, to be more reflective about its use’s impact on learning and have a much stronger appreciation of the societal impacts of generative AI.

The paper is one of the first to explore student use of generative AI in practice and discover in-depth their perception of its benefits and worries about its drawbacks. It has also developed a framework of generative AI literacy as a way of assessing their use. This can be used to plan both institutional policy and instructor support by identifying gaps in AI literacy that need to be filled. For example, educational developers could use the framework to facilitate discussions with teaching staff, aiding in the development of their AI literacy and enhancing their ability to teach AI literacy to students. In addition, universities could apply the dimensions of the AI framework to formulate policies and provide concrete examples that guide learning and teaching practices. The framework also has the potential in evaluating student AI literacy.

The paper has a number of limitations, pointing to where future research can build on its findings. Most participants in this study were using the free version of ChatGPT (3.5) and only a few used the paid version (4). We did not examine in detail the impact of using different versions. While ChatGPT was the main generative AI tool in use at the time of the study, there were others rapidly emerging in popularity. Future research would need to examine how choices of different apps were made and the impact of these choices on writing. Although the participants of this study come from a variety of countries, it is focused on one institution at a particular time. Given the speed of change in technology and educational policy and practice, it is likely that future research will identify rapid shifts in behaviour. But we emphasise the need to examine student writing practices in the context of significant pre-existing use of digital writing tools. Our focus was on postgraduate students. We think less experienced students, such as undergraduates may be quicker and less discriminating in adopting the technology. As generative AI evolves there will be a need to update our definition of generative AI literacy and also to integrate it with notions such as algorithmic literacy, which point to the way that AI operates in rather hidden ways within the infrastructure. This research employed interviews and observations as its main data collection methods. These offer depth of insight but have less power of generalisability. Future studies could usefully seek to validate our findings through quantitative or mixed-methods approaches, such as surveys or experimental studies. Furthermore, future research could expand the scope of this study from AI literacy to the broader concept of writing digitisation, exploring the issue from other perspectives such as psychology and second language acquisition.

Data availability

The datasets analysed during the current study are not publicly available, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Zhao, X., Cox, A. & Cai, L. ChatGPT and the digitisation of writing. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 482 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02904-x

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Received : 30 December 2023

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02904-x

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