Best Colleges for Creative Writing Undergrad Degrees in 2026

There isn’t a single “best” college for creative writing. The right program really depends on what you want to write, how much time you want to spend in workshops, whether you prefer a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), how much flexibility you want for another major, and what you can afford.

Some colleges offer a dedicated creative writing degree. Others offer creative writing as a concentration or emphasis within an English major. A few have additional application requirements for the major or for advanced workshops. Those differences can affect what your four years actually look like.

To make the search easier, we’ve found 12 colleges that represent different approaches to undergraduate creative writing, including public and private colleges, BA and BFA programs, standalone majors, and English-based creative writing concentrations. Please note that these schools are not presented in a specific order.

Best colleges for creative writing: At a glance

How we chose these colleges

This is a curated, unranked list of undergraduate creative writing programs. “Best” does not mean that one college is universally better than another. We use each “best for” designation to identify a program’s strongest documented feature and the type of student it may serve particularly well.

Eligibility

To be considered, a college needed to:

• Be an accredited U.S. institution offering a bachelor’s degree.
• Offer a substantial undergraduate creative writing major, BFA, BA, or named concentration or emphasis.
• Provide enough current, publicly available curriculum information to evaluate the undergraduate experience.
• Offer a sequence of creative writing courses beyond a single introductory class or small certificate.

We excluded graduate-only programs, standalone certificates without a substantial undergraduate creative writing curriculum, and programs whose publicly available information focused primarily on graduate study.

What we compared

We reviewed each eligible program using the following factors:

• Program structure: Whether creative writing is offered as a BA, BFA, standalone major, or concentration within a broader degree.
• Genre options: The availability of fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, playwriting, screenwriting, translation, hybrid writing, and other forms.
• Workshop progression: Whether students can advance from introductory courses to intermediate and advanced workshops.
• Final project: Whether the program includes a thesis, manuscript, portfolio, capstone, or similar culminating project.
• Publishing and professional experience: Opportunities involving literary journals, editing, publishing courses, internships, visiting writers, or industry partnerships.
• Access requirements: Portfolios, applications, prerequisites, GPA requirements, or selective admission to the major or advanced workshops.
• Academic flexibility: Whether students can double major, add another concentration, study another field, or complete the program online.
• Student fit: The type of undergraduate experience the program is structured to provide, including focused studio study, liberal arts breadth, genre specialization, or publishing preparation.

How we selected the final list

A program needed to meet the eligibility requirements and demonstrate meaningful strength in multiple comparison areas. We then selected 12 colleges that represent distinct approaches to undergraduate creative writing, including public and private colleges, BA and BFA programs, standalone majors, English-based concentrations, online study, genre specialization, and publishing-focused opportunities.

The final list is intentionally varied and is not exhaustive. We did not select colleges based on graduate-program reputation, institutional prestige, or name recognition alone.

How we assigned “best for” designations

Each designation reflects the clearest distinguishing feature supported by the program’s current curriculum, requirements, or undergraduate opportunities. These labels describe differences among the programs on this list. They are intended to help students identify potential fit rather than declare one college the overall winner.

Sources and verification

We checked program structures, curricula, admission requirements, workshop access, and related opportunities against official college program pages and academic catalogs in October 2026. Appily college profiles are linked separately so students can compare admissions, cost, financial aid, campus life, and other college-level factors.

Program requirements and course offerings can change. Confirm current information with the college before applying, especially when a program requires a portfolio, separate application, minimum GPA, or permission to enter advanced workshops.

BA, BFA, minor, or certificate: What’s the difference?

The credential name tells you how much of your undergraduate education will be devoted to creative writing.

Here’s a breakdown of each offering:

• BA in Creative Writing: A BA can provide substantial creative writing coursework while leaving room for general education, literature, electives, and potentially another area of study. The exact balance varies by college.
• BFA in Creative Writing: A BFA generally emphasizes studio-style creative work and workshops. That can be useful if you want creative writing to occupy a large part of your undergraduate schedule.
• Creative writing concentration or emphasis: Creative writing is part of a broader major, often English. You may take a defined sequence of writing courses while also completing literature or other requirements for the larger degree.
• Minor: A creative writing minor lets you study writing alongside another major. It typically requires fewer courses than a major or concentration.
• Certificate or specialization: These programs can add focused writing coursework to another degree. They are not necessarily equivalent to majoring in creative writing, so check the number and level of required writing courses.

Knowing the differences matters when comparing colleges. Two schools can both advertise “creative writing” while offering very different amounts of time in workshops.

12 colleges to consider for creative writing

Here are the best undergraduate creative writing programs:

The University of Iowa: Best for advanced undergraduate workshops and genre variety

The University of Iowa offers a BA in English and Creative Writing. The major combines literary study with creative writing and supports coursework in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, playwriting, translation, and writing for film, television, and radio.

Undergraduates can also take courses through the Iowa Writers' Workshop, including introductory classes, advanced fiction and poetry courses, special-topic workshops, and undergraduate writers' workshops. The undergraduate fiction and poetry workshops are smaller courses for students with previous writing experience, and admission is based on the quality of submitted manuscripts.

Students interested in publishing can use courses such as Publishing I and Publishing II to build publishing-related knowledge. The major also offers internship and honors options.

Who it may fit: Students who want a BA that combines literature with a substantial writing curriculum and gives them access to advanced workshops in several forms.

Potential drawback: Some of the most advanced undergraduate workshops are selective. Students should not assume that being admitted to the university automatically means access to every writing course.

Emerson College: Best for students interested in publishing and the writing industry

Emerson's BFA in Creative Writing uses a progression of introductory, intermediate, and advanced workshops. Students study fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and literature before focusing more deeply on a chosen genre.

The program also emphasizes writing outside the classroom. Students can write for literary journals and magazines, participate in the annual Magazine Pitch Slam, and pursue internships with organizations such as Boston Magazine, Reader's Digest, and Yale University Press. Emerson also describes a semester-long mentorship opportunity with Penguin Random House.

Students can work toward a creative thesis in fiction, poetry, or nonfiction, culminating in a manuscript.

Who it may fit: Students who want creative writing to be a central part of their degree and who are interested in publishing, magazines, editing, or other writing-related work.

Potential drawback: A BFA is more focused on creative writing than a broader English degree, so students who want extensive coursework in another academic field should compare the degree requirements carefully.

Columbia College Chicago: Best for multimedia and cross-genre writing

Columbia College Chicago offers a BA in Creative Writing that begins with creative writing coursework and moves through workshops and literature classes. The program includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and multimedia texts, with opportunities to create written, audio, and visual work.

Students take a series of workshops and a course called The Working Writer, then complete a capstone creative writing project. The college also offers a creative writing minor for students majoring in another field.

Who it may fit: Students who want traditional creative writing skills but also want to experiment with different formats and work in an urban arts environment.

Potential drawback: Applicants to the Creative Writing BA must submit a portfolio of creative work. The current requirement calls for five to 10 pages of writing, or an audio or video recording of a reading or performance.

The University of Arizona: Best for students who want to specialize by genre

The University of Arizona offers a BA in Creative Writing with coursework in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Students take introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses and study literature, language, literary analysis, and publishing.

After the first year, students choose whether to specialize in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. The program also offers electives that students can combine into different areas of interest, and they can pair creative writing with another major.

Who it may fit: Students who already have a strong idea of the type of writing they want to pursue and want a program that lets them develop deeper knowledge in that genre.

Potential drawback: The degree includes both creative writing and literary study. Students looking for a curriculum made up almost entirely of workshops should compare the required literature coursework with BFA programs.

Oregon State University: Best for students who want flexibility or an online option

Oregon State University offers a BA in Creative Writing at its Corvallis campus and through Ecampus. The major combines creative writing with the study of literature and begins with coursework in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

Students then choose additional upper-level workshops, including advanced fiction, advanced creative nonfiction, and advanced poetry. The program also includes literary study and electives in English, writing, or film.

Oregon State's writing community includes student publications such as Prism, Buckteeth Magazine, Castor Magazine, and 45th Parallel. Students can also combine creative writing with fields such as film studies, journalism, environmental studies, engineering, and computer science.

Who it may fit: Students who want a creative writing major without giving up flexibility for another major, minor, or online study.

Potential drawback: The BA is not a workshop-only degree. Students complete substantial literature and general education requirements, and the full degree requires 180 quarter credits.

UNC Wilmington: Best for a BFA with a publishing option

UNC Wilmington offers a BFA in Creative Writing built around fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. The 63-credit major uses a workshop model and also includes courses in reading for craft, research for creative writers, grammar and mechanics, and the creative process.

The program has a Publishing Laboratory with courses in publishing, editing, and design. Creative writing majors can also pursue an optional 15-credit Certificate in Publishing, which is added to the BFA.

Advanced courses cover subjects such as dialogue, personal essays, songwriting, ghost stories, young adult writing, writing for the public good, and graphic novels.

Who it may fit: Students who want a BFA and are interested in the publishing side of literary work.

Potential drawback: Admission to the full creative writing BFA is not automatic. Students first enter pre-creative writing and must complete specified introductory courses before submitting an application and creative portfolio.

Denison University: Best for small-group workshops and a senior manuscript

Denison offers an English major with a Creative Writing emphasis. The emphasis includes a five-course creative writing sequence, literature courses, and increasingly advanced workshops in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

The program culminates in a required senior writing project. Students work with a creative writing professor through small-group workshops and individual tutorials to produce a substantial manuscript. An optional second semester can extend that project with approval.

Denison also offers internships and publishing opportunities, including work with Story magazine and the student-run literary journal Exile. Visiting writers participate in the Beck Series.

Who it may fit: Students who want a liberal arts English degree with a defined creative writing sequence and a substantial final manuscript.

Potential drawback: Creative writing is an emphasis within the English major, not a separate BFA. Students who want creative writing to occupy most of their degree should compare the required literature courses with standalone creative writing degrees.

Oberlin College: Best for students who want to explore before committing to the major

Oberlin offers a BA in Creative Writing with coursework spanning multiple genres and a strong emphasis on reading, revision, critique, and workshop practice.

Students complete creative writing courses in at least two genres and a textual studies requirement. The major culminates in a substantial, closely mentored capstone project completed in a seminar with other senior writers.

The program also encourages students to connect creative writing with other arts and areas of study at Oberlin.

Who it may fit: Students who want a focused creative writing major but also want room to explore other artistic or academic interests at a liberal arts college.

Potential drawback: Students don’t simply declare the major on arrival. Admission to the major requires an application after completing two 200-level creative writing courses, with an alternative path for students who begin with a 100-level course. Upper-level workshops can also have application requirements.

Hamline University: Best for internships and undergraduate literary publishing

Hamline offers a BFA in Creative Writing covering fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, literary traditions, textual analysis, and digital storytelling. Students can work in genres ranging from speculative fiction and spoken-word poetry to memoir and personal essays.

The program gives undergraduates opportunities to work on research projects and student publications. Students can help publish Runestone, an online undergraduate literary magazine, and have completed internships with organizations including Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions, the Minnesota Historical Society, and other publishing and communications organizations.

Who it may fit: Students who want a BFA with practical publishing and internship opportunities built into the undergraduate experience.

Potential drawback: Hamline is a private college, so students should compare its financial aid and net price with public alternatives and other private colleges on their list.

George Mason University: Best for choosing between a focused BFA and a flexible English degree

George Mason University offers two undergraduate creative writing pathways. ItsBFA in Creative Writing is a focused, 45-credit program with concentrations in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Students complete creative writing workshops, literature and professional writing courses, an internship, and a final-semester capstone portfolio.

Admission to the full BFA program is competitive. Students initially enter as pre-BFA majors and generally qualify for full admission after completing three creative writing courses with at least a 3.0 GPA. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.

Students who want more flexibility can pursue aBA in English with a Creative Writing concentration. That pathway requires four creative writing courses and can be combined with a second English concentration, such as literature, linguistics, screen cultures, or writing and rhetoric.

Who it may fit: Students who want to choose between an intensive BFA and a broader English degree that can accommodate another concentration.

Potential drawback: Admission to George Mason does not guarantee admission to the BFA. Students should review the pre-BFA requirements and consider whether the BA concentration provides a suitable alternative.

UMass Amherst: Best for a defined creative writing sequence within an English degree

UMass Amherst offers a Creative Writing concentration within the English major. The concentration includes introductory, intermediate, and advanced creative writing courses and requires five creative writing courses in addition to the English major's core requirements.

Students workshop stories, novel chapters, poems, and essays while studying fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The current curriculum includes advanced fiction and poetry workshops, literary editing and publishing coursework, independent study, and an honors thesis option.

English majors can also pursue the concentration as a primary or secondary concentration. Non-English majors can pursue a separate Letter of Specialization in Creative Writing.

Who it may fit: Students who want a large public university and an established writing curriculum without making creative writing their entire undergraduate degree.

Potential drawback: The creative writing curriculum is a concentration inside the English major. Students looking for a standalone creative writing degree should compare how many writing courses they will take at UMass with the requirements of BFA and standalone BA programs.

Kenyon College: Best for students who want intensive workshop study within a liberal arts degree

Kenyon offers an English major with an emphasis in Creative Writing. Students can take workshops in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and hybrid genres while studying literature and the craft of writing.

The program includes introductory and advanced workshops, professional-development coursework, and a final creative or critical capstone. Students pursuing the creative writing emphasis must take at least two of their three primary workshops at Kenyon.

Advanced 300-level creative writing workshops require an application that includes a writing sample and instructor permission. Students must have completed an introductory course in the genre before applying.

Who it may fit: Students who want a small liberal arts college experience centered on workshop-based writing and close study of literature.

Potential drawback: Access to advanced workshops is selective, so students should review the application process and current course availability before assuming they can take every workshop they want.

How to choose a creative writing program

Once you have a list of programs that offer the degree or concentration you want, compare the details that may affect your actual undergraduate experience.

Start with your genres

Check whether the program offers the kind of writing you want to study. Fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction are common, but some schools also offer playwriting, screenwriting, translation, hybrid writing, young adult fiction, or other specialized courses.

If you’re interested in more than one genre, look for programs that let you move between them rather than requiring you to specialize immediately.

Look at how workshops progress

A program may list dozens of creative writing courses without guaranteeing that you can take the ones you want. Check whether the curriculum moves from introductory courses into intermediate and advanced workshops.

Also look for prerequisites and application requirements. At some colleges, advanced workshops are open to majors who meet course requirements. At others, students submit writing samples for individual courses.

Find out what you will finish

A senior thesis, manuscript, portfolio, or capstone can give you a substantial body of work by graduation, so check out what the final project actually requires.

For example, some programs involve a semester-long manuscript project with individual faculty guidance. Others use a portfolio or thesis course. If producing a sustained piece of writing is important to you, make that part of your comparison.

Check for publishing experience

If you’re interested in editing or publishing, look beyond the creative writing major itself. Student literary journals, publishing courses, internships, reading series, and campus magazines can provide experience you won’t get from a workshop alone.

Ask whether undergraduates can work on the publication, receive academic credit for internships, or take courses in editing and publishing.

Check portfolio requirements

You may need a portfolio when you apply to the college, the creative writing major, or to join an advanced workshop. These opportunities can have different requirements.

If a college requires a portfolio for admission to the major, find out when students submit it and what happens if they are not accepted. If only advanced workshops require writing samples, ask how many introductory courses are available before that point.

Compare the full cost

Creative writing students still pay for housing, food, transportation, books, fees, and the rest of their college education. Compare the net price of each college rather than relying only on published tuition.

Public colleges may have different costs for in-state and out-of-state students. Private colleges may offer financial aid that changes the amount a family actually pays. Use each school's current financial aid information and compare it with your family's estimated cost.

Consider the college outside the writing program

You will spend four years taking courses beyond creative writing. Look at the majors, minors, student organizations, location, class size, housing, campus environment, and other factors that affect your daily life.

If you already know you want to pair writing with journalism, biology, film, business, computer science, education, or another field, check whether the college makes that combination practical within four years.

FAQs about creative writing colleges

What is the difference between a BA and a BFA in creative writing?

A BA usually includes broader liberal arts coursework. In contrast, a BFA typically devotes more of the degree to creative writing and studio-style courses. Different colleges can have different requirements.

Do you need a portfolio to major in creative writing?

Not always. Some colleges require a portfolio for admission to the major, while others require one only for advanced workshops or don’t require one at all.

Can you study creative writing through an English major?

Yes. Many colleges offer creative writing as an English concentration or emphasis. This can give you writing coursework alongside literature and other English requirements.

What should you look for in a creative writing program?

Compare the genres offered, workshop progression, portfolio or capstone requirements, publishing opportunities, and cost. Also check whether advanced workshops have application or enrollment limits.

Is a creative writing degree worth it?

It depends on your goals and the degree's cost. Look for programs that give you meaningful time to write, feedback from instructors and peers, and opportunities that support your interests.

The best creative writing program for you depends on what you want to write, how you want to study it, and what you need from your college experience. Compare programs based on their coursework, workshop opportunities, degree structure, admissions requirements, cost, and overall college fit. Then use Appily to compare those factors across the schools you’re considering. 

Finding a creative writing program that fits you takes more than looking at a list of colleges. Consider the kind of writing you want to explore, how much time you want to spend in workshops, and the opportunities you want outside the classroom. Once you've found a few programs that interest you, take a closer look at the colleges themselves. Appily's College List Maker can help you build a list of schools, compare your options, and start narrowing down where you'd like to apply.