With a focus on community, the program has created flexible pathways to an MFA degree. Students in the program do not declare a genre concentration but have the leeway to focus on a single genre or to work across several genres. While many students complete the program in two years, there is flexibility for working adults, especially teachers, who need to balance active careers with their study of the craft of writing and storytelling.

The program offers on-campus graduate housing, and hosts the annual Summer Writers’ Week, Fall Writers’ Weekend, and the “Meet the Writers” reading series, which brings established and emerging writers to campus. Students also have the opportunity to edit the literary journal Inkwell, which receives creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry submissions from writers across the country.

The Master’s in Writing program was established in 1997; the MFA program was established in 2012.