Degree Requirements

Summer Writing Program

Two four-week summer semesters (or some combination totaling 16 credits), are completed at Naropa’s Boulder campus.

Writing Workshops: 9 credits (All classes are 3 credits.)

Writing workshops require regular submissions of original work for critique and editing. Courses include reading and online discussion of modes of composition. Workshop participation encourages student peer critique and develops editing skills and an informed vocabulary.

Literature Courses: 9 credits (All classes are 3 credits.)

Literature seminars focus on the works of particular authors, literary history and culture, as well as contemporary trends in literary theory. They are titled Literature Seminar, Creative Reading and Writing, and Trends in Contemporary Literature. All literature courses require critical papers in standard academic format.

Final Manuscript: 6 credits

In their last semester, MFA students submit a final manuscript consisting of a creative manuscript and a critical thesis. Additional information about the final manuscript  is available in the Writing and Poetics office.

Elective Requirement: 6 credits

Students can choose from the array of more than forty online courses offered by other departments at Naropa University. For those students who can attend class at Naropa, we also offer the following weekend electives, each for 1 credit. These classes can include in-resident undergraduate and graduate students and low-residency graduate students.

Contemplative Requirement: 3 credits