Nearly 200 American universities in some 40 states offer a bachelor's degree in creative writing. Navigating which school to attend can be tricky, not to mention subjective. To begin, most major university rankings, from those done by U.S. News and World Report, to Princeton Review to Forbes, do not rank undergraduate creative writing degree programs. Furthermore, as such programs vary widely, each aspiring writer will likely seek a different mix of elements.
Besides the usual considerations of location, tuition, private versus public, and university prestige, creative writing students need to ponder their personal ambitions. Do you prefer a more academic program, or are you ready for a workshop-style degree? Furthermore, do any members of the faculty write in the style or genre which attracts you most? The Association of Writers and Writing Programs' website offers help navigating the strengths and weaknesses of various programs but refrains from ranking them, arguing that mentorship is a far more important consideration than any quantifiable features of a program. Finally, rankings, which tend to change from year to year although schools themselves rarely change that rapidly, are often based on annual selectivity figures rather than on the overall quality of a program.
The first questions for those who want an undergraduate degree in creative writing is whether they want to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts, or a Bachelor of Arts. The primary distinction is that a BFA is a “studio” program. In other words, students focus more heavily on workshops and creative output while Creative Writing BA's (as well as programs offering a degree in English with a writing emphasis) generally involve more academic coursework.
Those caveats aside, here's a starter list of twenty renowned schools offering degrees or emphases in creative writing. The list is taken primarily from data supplied in Rugg's Recommendations on the Colleges, 27th Edition which bases its rankings on the well-known college researcher Fred Rugg's personal conversations with college staff, students, and high school counselors.
1. Bard College
2. Middlebury College
3. Beloit College
4. Brown University
5. Carnegie Mellon
6. Colorado College
7. Emerson College
8. Florida State University
9. Hamilton College
10. University of Iowa
11. John's Hopkins University
12. Kenyon College
13. University of Michigan
14. Northwestern University
15. Oberlin College
16. University of Oregon
17. Reed College
18. Sarah Lawrence College
19. Vassar College
20. University of Redlands