University of Arizona offers bachelor's degrees in creative writing, awarded through the English department. As a creative writing student, your coursework combines studies in the aesthetics of different writing forms with plenty of opportunities for writing your own work. You take classes in poetry, nonfiction and fiction, along with literature courses from the English department. In addition to teaching you how to create work worthy of being published, the major strives to prepare you for graduate programs in writing. The University of Arizona's own Master of Fine Arts in creative writing program is ranked among the top 10 in the nation.
Established in the 1950s, Stanford University's creative writing degree program allows students to design their own curriculum. Special emphasis is placed on providing students with individual guidance and instruction in their development as writers. As you pursue your degree at Stanford, you participate in group workshops in poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Additionally, you receive one-on-one mentoring through Levinthal Tutorials. The Levinthal Tutorial programs allow you to work closely with visiting Stegner Fellows who advise and guide you as you work toward completing your undergraduate degree.
The center of undergraduate studies at New York City's Columbia University, Columbia College requires students to take a combination of courses from two curriculum tracks. In the workshop curriculum, you produce poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction to be read, critiqued and discussed by faculty and students, as well as thoroughly line-edited by your professor. Courses in the seminar curriculum require you to engage in roundtable discussions analyzing the attributes of published literary works in order to better understand how to produce quality work.
As one of the oldest undergraduate creative writing degree programs in the country, Carnegie Mellon University bases its writing program on the conservatory model. Prospective creative writing majors take an introductory course to creative writing before enrolling in any other writing classes. If you exhibit a high level of commitment to your work, you will be encouraged to enroll in further courses toward completing the major. Most classes take the form of a workshop, small roundtable classes in which your peers and professor consider and critique your work in order to help you improve your writing skills.