Personal Attention
With a nearly 1:1 student-faculty ratio, the MA program offers small classes (capped at 12) and lots of mentoring. Intensely engaged in research and creative activity, faculty are eager to share their excitement with MA students. Independent studies, mentored teaching, and thesis projects offer opportunities for one-on-one interactions.
Flexible Curriculum
Our four concentrations allow students maximum flexibility, providing a core of required courses with room for electives in other concentrations. Courses offer insight into the latest thinking about pedagogy, literature, creative and professional writing and are taught by faculty who publish in a wide variety of fields.
Students may shape their own curriculum by proposing independent study classes to match their interests and may participate in summer study abroad programs in England and South Africa. Check out current course offerings here.
Professional Opportunities
We offer a substantial number of graduate assistantships, which offer a monthly stipend and tuition waiver. Graduate assistants work in the Writing Center and may apply to teach a writing class in their second year; they may also assist professors with research or editorial work.
Creative writers work with well-published, well-connected writers of poetry, fiction, drama, and creative nonfiction; participate in readings, writing contests, and digital story-telling projects; interact frequently with visiting writers; and get involved with two literary magazines associated with EIU: Bluestem and The Vehicle.
Professional writing internships and mentored teaching opportunities are available to all students, offering hands-on experience. Students in all fields present their work at local and national professional conferences as well as on-campus venues.
Student Success
Recent graduates hold many different kinds of jobs. They teach at two-year colleges and work as professional writers for newspapers, non-profits, hospitals, and academic institutions. They run programs to help high school students go to college, write satiric blogs, and teach dual-credit classes at high schools. Many have gone on to success in PhD, MFA, and MLS programs at Purdue, the University of Tennessee, Texas A&M, the University of Mississippi, New York University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois State University, Simmons College, and the University of Washington.
