2020 Most Affordable Master's in Creative Writing Online
This list highlights 22 schools, all of which offer affordable online master's in creative writing programs. Eastern Illinois University is the #1 school on the list, offering a tuition rate of $5,210 annually. Ranked #2, the University of North Alabama offers a Master of Arts in Writing - Creative Writing at a tuition rate of $6,300 annually. Classes for this program include Advanced Creative Writing, Fiction & Drama, Language and Gender, Literary Editing and Publishing, and The Contemporary American Novel.
You can read more about our ranked schools below or browse our rankings of the most affordable online master's programs. View our methodology or learn more about OnlineU.
All tuition numbers were manually collected and verified
| Rank | School | Annual Tuition |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Illinois University | $5,210 | |
| University of North Alabama | $6,300 | |
| University of Louisiana-Monroe | $7,500 | |
| Tiffin University | $7,875 | |
| University of Nebraska at Kearney | $8,892 | |
| The University of Texas at El Paso | $10,350 | |
| Southern New Hampshire University Online | $11,286 | |
| Saint Leo University Online | $11,340 | |
| Lindenwood University | $11,880 | |
| University of Arkansas at Monticello | $12,511 | |
| National University | $13,260 | |
| Albertus Magnus College | $13,500 | |
| University of Houston-Victoria | $13,934 | |
| Bay Path University | $14,800 | |
| Point Park University | $14,850 | |
| University of Nebraska at Omaha | $15,000 | |
| Arcadia University | $15,300 | |
| Reinhardt University | $15,450 | |
| Regent University Online | $15,600 | |
| The University of West Florida | $15,700 | |
| Central Washington University | $16,959 | |
| Mount Saint Mary's University - CA | $17,946 |
- Annual Tuition: $5,210
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: HLC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 1,514
- Example Classes: Communication in Science and Technical Organizations; Composition Pedagogies; Creative Writing Professional Development--Joining The Literature Community; Ecocritical and Media Literature and Literary Theory; Studies in Nineteenth-Century American Literature--American Naturalism: The Individual and the City
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Arts in English - Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $6,300
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: SACS COC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 1,335
- Example Classes: Advanced Creative Writing, Fiction & Drama; Language and Gender; Literary Editing and Publishing; The Contemporary American Novel
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Arts in Writing - Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $7,500
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: SACS COC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 1,503
- Example Classes: Advanced Multicultural Literature; American Poetry; Creative Writing for Teachers; Special Topics: Forms and Theories of Creative Writing
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Arts in English - Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $7,875
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: HLC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 822
- Example Classes: Aesthetics; Creativity and its Development; Ethnic Voices: Poetry; Poetics of Western Drama; Studies in Genre Fiction; Teaching College English
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Humanities in Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $8,892
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: HLC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 1,843
- Example Classes: Colloquium: Creative Writing; Creative Nonfiction; Creative Writing for Public School Teachers; Drama Writing; Prosody: The Music of Poetic Form
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Arts in English - Creative Writing (Non-Thesis Option)
- Master of Arts in English - Creative Writing (Thesis Option)
- Annual Tuition: $10,350
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: SACS COC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 3,687
- Example Classes: History of the Short Story From; Literary Translation; Physics as Metaphor; Politics of Narration; Writing Comics and Visual Cultural; Writing the Novel
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing - Bilingual
- Annual Tuition: $11,286
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: NECHE
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 21,375
- Example Classes: Fiction and Film; Screenwriting Fundamentals; Story and Concept; Studies in Place & Setting; Studying the Craft; The Editor
Online Master's Degrees
- MA in English and Creative Writing
- MA in English and Creative Writing - Fiction
- MA in English and Creative Writing - Non-Fiction
- MA in English and Creative Writing - Poetry
- MA in English and Creative Writing - Screenwriting
- MFA in Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $11,340
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: SACS COC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 3,146
- Example Classes: Foundations in Creative Nonfiction; Foundations in Fiction; Theory and Practice of Creative Writing; Workshop in Poetry
Online Master's Degrees
- M.A. in Creative Writing
- M.A. in Creative Writing: Fiction
- M.A. in Creative Writing: Non-Fiction
- M.A. in Creative Writing: Poetry
- Annual Tuition: $11,880
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: HLC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 2,939
- Example Classes: Classic Foundational Literature: Fiction; Contemporary Foundational Literature: Creative Nonfiction; Focused Fiction Workshop; Genre Fiction as Literature; Poetry Craft Foundations; The Literary Novel
Online Master's Degrees
- MFA in Writing
- Annual Tuition: $12,511
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: HLC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 301
- Example Classes: First books of Poetry; Magazine Edit and Design; Memoirs of the Mind; Simple Art of Murder
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $13,260
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: WSCUC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 9,195
- Example Classes: Basics of Screenwriting; Modern Rhetoric; Pedagogy of Creative Writing; Pictures that Speak; Seminar in Literary Hypermedia; Writing for Young Adults
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $13,500
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: NECHE
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 340
- Example Classes: Seminar in Fiction I and II; Seminar in Non-fiction I and II; Seminar in Poetry I and II; The Creative Process; The Literary Marketplace; Writing Portfolio
Online Master's Degrees
- MFA in Writing
- Annual Tuition: $13,934
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: SACS COC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 1,135
- Example Classes: American Literary History; British Literary History; Digital Publishing; Literary Theory
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing - Applied Literary Translation
- Annual Tuition: $14,800
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: NECHE
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 1,521
- Example Classes: Eat, Drink, and Get Paid; Health and Wellness Writing: Storytelling as a Healing Art; Immersion in Publishing; Learning to Teach; Travel Writing; Women's Spiritual Writing Through the Ages
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction Writing
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction Writing - Publishing
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction Writing - Teaching
- Annual Tuition: $14,850
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: MSCHE
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 903
- Example Classes: Dramatic & Cinematic Theories; Engaging the Audience; Genre, Form & Style; Knowledge Sharing for Storytellers; Past, Present & Future; Writing Landscapes
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Writing for the Screen & Stage
- Annual Tuition: $15,000
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: HLC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 3,001
- Example Classes: Fiction Seminar; Nonfiction Seminar; Playwriting Seminar; Poetry Seminar
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking - Writing and Critical Reflection
- Master of Fine Arts in Writing
- Annual Tuition: $15,300
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: MSCHE
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 1,502
- Example Classes: Contemporary Fiction; Craft of Contemporary Poetry; Fiction Workshop; Poetry Workshop
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $15,450
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: SACS COC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 93
- Example Classes: Reading Criticism; Reading Image; Reading Voice; Writer’s Workshop: Poetry, Prose, or Script
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $15,600
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: SACS COC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 5,536
- Example Classes: Aesthetics for the Contemporary Communicator; Playwriting; Redemptive Cinema; Story Structure for Stage & Screen; Writing for Television; Writing the Short Film
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Script and Screenwriting
- Annual Tuition: $15,700
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: SACS COC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 3,114
- Example Classes: Special Topics in Creative Writing; Topics in British Literature from the Romantics to Present; Workshop in Creative Non-Fiction Writing; Workshop in Teaching Creative Writing
Online Master's Degrees
- MA in English - Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $16,959
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: NWCCU
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 923
- Example Classes: Advanced Creative Nonfiction Writing; Advanced Poetry Writing; Publishing Strategies and Practice for Writers; Special Topics: Narratology; Special Topics: Writing with Sound
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Arts in Professional and Creative Writing
- Annual Tuition: $17,946
- School Type: Non-Profit
- School Accreditation: WSCUC
- Total Graduate Enrollment: 609
- Example Classes: Creative Non-Fiction Writing II; Fiction Writing; Playwriting II; Poetry Writing; Writing for the Screen I
Online Master's Degrees
- Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing