MA in English | MFA in Creative Writing
Four 2-year MAs | One 3-year MFA
Innovative & Engaged
Our MA and MFA fields of study speak to our core values: academic excellence; innovative instruction; a collaborative, creative, and engaged learning environment; and commitment to the professional success of each student. We offer four different two-year graduate programs and a three-year MFA within the English Department.
Why pursue an MA or MFA at CSU?
CSU English is for you if any of the following statements identify you:
- You are looking for small programs that allow individualized attention to students.
- You want to study with nationally and internationally recognized faculty and programs.
- You are seeking a strong community of scholars and teachers engaged in interdisciplinary work and devoted to supporting graduate education.
- You want robust professional development opportunities including career support workshops and colloquia, internships, teaching opportunities, and certificate programs.
- You are seeking a nationally recognized GTA program.
- You prefer a campus in a vibrant small city committed to fostering active engagement with the arts and humanities through public art, speaker series, first Friday celebrations, social action and poetry slams.
TEFL/TESL Student Association
The purpose of the TEFL/TESL Student Association (TTSA) is “to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and raise awareness about the field of TEFL/TESL in the Colorado State University community and the greater Fort Collins community.” Members are active throughout the year arranging social and professional events, and organizing their annual “Advocacy Week” event, which takes place during the spring semester and features a keynote speech from a leading figure in the TESOL field. This event offers students an opportunity to conduct events on and off campus to advocate for the field of TEFL/TESL and English language learners. Past speakers who have delivered talks during this event have been Andrew Cohen, Dana Ferris, Eli Hinkel, Paul Matsuda, Fredricka Stoller, and Bill Van Patten (among others).
Additional Graduate Opportunities
Within the Department of English and the Fort Collins community there are a number of opportunities to extend your learning beyond the classroom.
The Community Literacy Center’s primary mission is to create and facilitate literacy opportunities that invite community members—particularly people experiencing confinement or in recovery—to engage in innovative and supportive writing spaces and to value the writing and art that emerges through conversation and circulation. Learn more about how to get involved.
Student Perspectives
"I personally felt like CSU’s program reached out to me instead of vice versa. I had made connections before I even began the program with both faculty and other students thanks to the English Department’s accepted-graduate student day, and it felt like home. CSU was the clear choice for my graduate education, offering ongoing opportunities for funding smaller endeavors like conference travel, as well as options for funding the degree through internships of all kinds. I’ve worked harder than I’ve ever worked, and I’ve had the most fun at the same time—I can’t say that about anything else!”
~Joni Hayward, MA English: Literature
"Eight short months into my MFA in Creative Writing, I can say with conviction that I am a radically altered poet and thinker, led by faculty and peers both to new vantages as to new fathoms. My time here affords me a deeply considered, even ethical understanding of the real work of the poem that has moved me out of the sole limits of the written word into the world itself.”
~Kylan Rice, MFA: Creative Writing