2011 MFA Rankings: The Top Ten Low-Residency Programs

by
Seth Abramson
From the September/October 2010 issue of
Poets & Writers Magazine

 

Rank School Votes
(of 195)
2009–10
Rank
2008–09
Rank
2007–08
Rank
Genres
Available
Selectivity Placement Residencies
1 Vermont College of Fine Arts 79 2 1 1 5 3 1 20 days/year
1 Warren Wilson College 79 1 2 2 2 1 2 20 days/year
3 Bennington College 66 3 3 3 3 2 3 20 days/year
4 Pacific University 37 4 5 + 3 N/A * 20 days/year
5 Antioch University 33 6 4 5 4 7 * 20 days/year
6 Lesley University 31 7 7 4 5 6 * 18 days/year
7 Queens University of Charlotte 28 5 8 5 4 4 5 14 days/year
8 University of Southern Maine 25 7 5 9 5 N/A * 22 days/year
9 Goddard College 18 10 8 7 7 10 * 16 days/year
10 Spalding University 15 + + 8 6 N/A * 20 days/year

NOTE: + = Honorable Mention (ranked between eleven and fifteen); N/A = information not available; * = unranked. One additional program, Goucher College, is deserving of special note, as its one-genre, fourteen-day residency creative nonfiction MFA placed in the top ten or Honorable Mention category in all three application cycles assessed, including a #10 placement in the 2007-2008 application cycle. For a ranking of the additional thirty-six low residencies in the United States and beyond, click here.