Graduate Studies

Program Overview

Master of Arts in English

The Master of Arts in English focus upon literature, emphasizing research and the application of various critical approaches to problems in literary interpretation and composition. The Master of Arts program provides graduate students with course work in practical criticism, electives in literature and linguistics, and opportunities for the study of composition theory and the practice of teaching writing to beginning students. The program is designed to meet the needs of part-time and full-time students. Core courses and graduate seminars are offered in the evenings.

For more information about the Master of Arts in English and directions for how to apply, click here.

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

For more information on the NEOMFA Program at Cleveland State University, click here.

The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is offered as part of the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, a four-university consortium incorporating the faculty and resources of Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Youngstown State University, and the University of Akron. The degree program offers four concentrations: fiction, creative nonfiction, playwriting, and poetry. The curriculum focuses on the techniques of creative writing and the analysis of literary works from the point of view of the practitioner, while electives enable the study of whatever subject area will further the student's writing interests. A required internship offers practical workplace experience from a wide range of fields, including teaching, editing, grant writing, arts marketing, and arts administration.

The program is designed to meet the needs of both part-time and full-time students. Workshops and craft and theory courses are routinely offered in the evenings. Students can register freely across institutional boundaries for graduate courses offered at any of the participating universities and taught either by regular faculty or by visiting resident writers.

Please note that applicants must submit materials both to CSU and to the NEOMFA Program. For more information on submitting materials to CSU, click here. For information on submitting materials to the NEOMFA, click here.

Click here For a current copy of the Handbook for Graduate Studies in English.

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Contact Info

Department of English; Rhodes Tower, Room 1815; Phone (216) 687-3951

Admission Requirements

A baccalaureate degree with a major or concentration in English, and an overall grade-point average of 2.75 or higher and a 3.0 average in courses in English, are minimum requirements for admission, though satisfying those requirements will not guarantee admission.  (A concentration is defined as a minimum of 24 quarter hours or 16 semester hours beyond Freshman English).  Students without a sufficient number of undergraduate courses in English will take undergraduate courses, as required by the Graduate Director.  Such concentrations normally emphasize British and American Literature surveys and courses that stress writing about literature.

Those interested in applying for admission must meet the following requirements:

1. All regular application materials for admission--including the application, two letters of recommendation, and official transcripts from all colleges attended--must be submitted directly to Campus 411, All-In-1.  Students must indicate whether they are applying for the literature track or the creative writing track.
2. All applicants, including those applying to creative writing, must submit samples of their academic writing (between ten and twenty pages of work submitted from prior courses; a term paper from an advanced English course is ideal) to the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English.
3. Applicants for the creative writing track shall, in addition, submit a creative portfolio in the genre they intend to study (30 pages of prose, 15 poems, or a complete one-act play) for consideration by the Department's creative writing faculty.
4. Applicants shall be admitted either to the literature track or the creative writing track at the time of application.
5. An applicant whose undergraduate major was in a field other than English may be required to take a certain number of undergraduate English courses as a condition for admission to the M.A. program.  These courses do not count toward degree requirements.

Come, Click, or Visit

We can come to your school in the Cleveland area to discuss our program with interested applicants, invite you to an evening class you can visit during an open house, and telephone or email you with any other information.