Northwest Programs (Washington, Oregon, Alaska)

RAINIER WRITING WORKSHOP—PACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY
Location: Tacoma, Washington
Length: 3 years, each beginning with a 10-day summer residency followed by correspondence with faculty mentor throughout the rest of the year; 3rd year concludes with 4th and final residency; participants who already have an MA may be allowed to complete the program in 2 years and 3 residencies
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Stan Sanvel Rubin, Linda Bierds, Charles Bergman, Mary Clearman Blew, Fleda Brown, Sharon Bryan, Kevin Clark, Stephen Corey, Justin Cronin, Scott Ely, Greg Glazner, Albert Goldbarth, Lola Haskins, Robin Hemley, David Huddle, Judith Kitchen, Stephen Kuusisto, Susan Ludvigson, Kent Meyers, Brenda Miller, Ann Pancake, Lia Purpura, Marjorie Sandor, Peggy Shumaker, Sherry Simpson
Tuition per year: Cost is $7 250 per year for each of the 2 or 3 years spent in the program, plus a final residency at $1 700.
Application requirements: Submit all materials to Graduate Admissions: Graduate Application Form, $40 application fee, 2 recommendations (note: if one of the faculty members has agreed to vouch for the applicant, simply indicate that and he/she will be contacted), transcript (sent directly from institution), personal statement, review/critique of a book, and portfolio; GRE not required
Deadline: Nov. 30 (early action); Feb. 15 (regular admission). There will be ongoing consideration of applicants for remaining places, but when all places are filled, subsequent applicants will be considered for admission to the next year’s class.
Financial Aid: All that the program website states regarding financial aid is as follows: “Aid is available in the form of substantial student loans. There are also some limited scholarship and fellowship opportunities. Please contact us for further information at mfa@plu.edu.”
Web address: http://www.plu.edu/~mfa

SEATTLE PACIFIC UNIVERSITY
Location: Seattle, Washington
Length: 4 semesters, each beginning with a 10-day residency followed by correspondence with faculty mentor; 4th semester concludes with 5th and final residency; students who wish to study 2 genres will do 6 semesters and 7 residencies
Subject areas: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Faculty: Gregory Wolfe, Robert Clark, Deborah Joy Corey, B.H. Fairchild, Leslie Leyland Fields, Paul Mariani, Sandra Scofield
Tuition per year: $11 040 per year for 2 or 3 years, plus $1 472 for final residency.
Application requirements: Submit all materials to the Graduate Center: Graduate Application, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations (“two should be focused on the applicant’s abilities as a writer” and “one should touch on the applicant’s academic achievements”—though I can’t see why all three shouldn’t do both!), transcript, personal statement, manuscript, and resume; GRE not required
Deadline: 1 Oct. (March residency); 15. Feb (August residency)
Financial Aid: Because of its low-residency nature, the department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students—you must turn to your friend the FAFSA.
Web address: http://www.spu.edu/prospects/grad/academics/mfa/index.asp

WHIDBEY WRITERS WORKSHOP
Location: Langley, Washington
Length: 4 semesters, each beginning with 10-day residency followed by online correspondence with faculty and peers; 4th semester concludes with 5th and final residency
Subject areas: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction (for both adults and children)
Faculty: Stephanie Bodeen, Christopher Howell, Kirby Larson, Lisa Dale Norton, Bruce Holland Rogers, Wayne Ude, David Wagoner, Carolyne L. Wright, Susan Zwinger
Tuition per year: Easier to go by semester. Tuition per semester is $5 500. Each residency costs $400. Total cost of program (4 semesters, 5 residencies) is $24 000.
Application requirements: Send all materials to Whidbey Writers Workshop: MFA Program Application, $50 application fee, 3 recommendations (sent directly from recommenders), transcript (sent directly from institution), personal statement, manuscript (3 copies); GRE not required
Deadline: Applications are accepted at any time of the year, but may not be considered for the next term if they arrive later than 90 days before the beginning of that term (residencies are in August and January)
Financial Aid: There are no assistantships or fellowships to provide funds for graduate students, not only because this is a low-residency program, but because it is not even run in a school. The degree is offered but by a non-profit literary organization called the Whidbey Island Writers Association (WIWA). In this case, not even the FAFSA can help you. You might try taking out a loan from a financial institution or getting a scholarship from a private organization.
Web address: http://www.writeonwhidbey.com/mfa

PACIFIC UNIVERSITY
Location: Forest Grove, Oregon
Length: four semesters, each beginning with a 10-day residency followed by correspondence with advisor for the rest of the semester; 4th semester concludes with a 5th and final residency
Subject areas: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry
Faculty: Sandra Alcosser, Marvin Bell, Judy Blunt, Sharon Bryan, Claire Davis, Madeline DeFrees, Jack Driscoll, Debra Magpie Earling, Pete Fromm, William Kittredge, Elinor Langer, Dorianne Laux, Craig Lesley, David Long, Joseph Millar, Valerie Miner, John Rember, Pattiann Rogers, Peter Sears, Kathleen Tyau
Tuition per year: For each academic year, there’s $11 800 in tuition and $1 300 for two residencies. Allow $650 for the last residency.
Application materials: Submit all materials directly to the MFA Program in Writing. Materials to be submitted by the applicant: MFA in Writing Application, $50 application fee, personal essay, critical analysis of literary work, and manuscript. Materials to be submitted under separate cover: 2 recommendations (sent directly from recommenders), and transcript (sent directly from institution). GRE not mentioned.
Deadline: This program has semesters that start in June and January (rather unusual). Deadlines are 15 Mar. (June semester); 1 Oct. (Jan. semester)
Financial Aid: As is the trend amongst low-residency MFA’s, the department has not set up any assistantship or fellowship program to provide funds for graduate students—seeing as you only spend 10 days per semester on campus. There is, however, still the FAFSA.
Web address: http://www.pacificu.edu/as/mfa/program/index.cfm

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE
***This program has recently gone from a traditional residency to a low residency. Its website states that admission has been suspended—probably until they finish all aspects of the conversion and come up with the low res program’s faculty, applications criteria, etc.***
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Subject areas: Creative Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, Drama for stage and screen
Faculty: The faculty page on the program website states: “This page is currently under construction. Please check back in September 2007 for an updated directory of MFA faculty.”
Length: 3 years, each beginning with a residency (length unspecified; they’re usually 1-2 weeks) followed by correspondence with faculty mentor for the rest of the year; 3rd year concludes with 4th and final residency.
Tuition per year: Easier to go by credit. Tuition is $287 per credit (residents); $586 per credit (non-residents). Degree should cost approximately $13 K (residents); $26.5 K (non-residents).
Application materials: “Admission to the MFA Program has been suspended,” states the page on the program website that deals with “General information about the MFA Program.” Admission may remain suspended until they finish converting this program from a traditional residency to a low residency, and finish putting together a faculty.
Deadline: t.b.a. for when the program starts up again
Financial Aid: t.b.a. for when the program starts up again—although the problem with low residencies is that there are few to none graduate assistantships available, since everyone spends only 1-2 weeks on campus per semester; you will end up relying on the FAFSA.
Web address: http://cwla.uaa.alaska.edu/index.htm