UNO Low Residency MFA Program

UNO's Low Residency MFA Program

Welcome to the information page for UNO's innovative Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing, the first low residency MFA program to combine distance learning with study-abroad. Since 1973, when our Division of International Education was founded, almost ten thousand students have participated in our study-abroad programs in Europe, Africa, and Asia. And over the past decade more than a thousand writers have participated in our workshops and literature classes abroad. This comes as no surprise with faculty and guests like John Gery, Rodger Kamenetz, Ann Beattie, Philip Levine, Miroslav Mandic, Ann Marie Macari, Cynthia Hogue, Kay Murphy, Mary Morris, Stuart Dybek, Moira Crone, Alison Deming, Donald Hall, Patricia Hampl, Ivan Klíma, Arnost Lustig, and dozens of other writers and scholars of national and international renown.

A New Concept in Low Residency Programs

Unlike most low residency programs, in which you work with a single instructor remotely over your entire course of study, with only brief summer residencies on an American campus as your only opportunity to confer with other faculty and students, UNO's program offers online workshops with a maximum of interaction among faculty and students. The program is organized in standard semesters, providing the benefit of several different instructors in each genre over the course of your curriculum.

Residencies are held in the summer semester each year, usually in the month of July, at one of our famous summer programs in Europe. Whether you choose to attend the Madrid Summer Seminars, the Writing Workshop in Montpellier, or the poetry program the Ezra Pound Center for Literature in Brunnenburg and Venice, you are treated to a cultural and literary experience that will enrich both your writing and your life.

Structure:

The low residency MFA in Creative Writing follows almost exactly the normal MFA regimen of 45 credit hours, except that only 18 credit hours (6 classes) need be earned in residence. (Complete requirements are listed below). Residence is defined a class work done on the UNO campus or at any of its study-abroad programs., including our workshops in Madrid, Spain; Montpellier, France; and the poetry workshop at Ezra Pound's castle in Brunnenburg, Italy. Three summers abroad, with distance classes taken during the intervening four semesters, will be sufficient to earn the degree. See our sample curriculum.

What are the application deadlines?

For admission beginning in the Spring, applications must be received by October 15. For admission beginning in the Summer or Fall, applications must be received by February 15. However, one may enroll in courses prior to application. To apply or contact us for more information, click here.