A Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing generally offers the greatest emphasis on the creation of writing, rather than the academics and theories behind writing. Most M.F.A. degrees involve a number of writing workshops, lectures, seminars and electives, all designed to improve a writer's craft, but these programs prepare a writer artistically and typically offer little in the way of job preparation skills. Most students aiming for M.F.A. degrees in Creative Writing finish the program in two to four years upon the completion of a manuscript of publishable quality.
A Master of Arts in Creative Writing has a greater academic emphasis than its counterpart. M.A. programs focus less on the process of writing a creative work or honing one's craft, opting instead to have a structured curriculum that teaches theory and literary criticism. This structure allows most students to earn an M.A. quicker than an M.F.A. Completion usually takes two years, when students complete a critical thesis on a matter relating to creative writing.
Some graduate schools offer a Ph.D. in Creative Writing, though more offer a Ph.D. in English with only a specialization in the field of Creative Writing. A Ph.D. program requires both creative courses as well as extensive study in literary history, theory and criticism, and these programs generally take between five to seven years for completion. Completion requires a creative dissertation, and many Ph.D. programs include a number of written or oral exams for completion as well.
In 2011, "Poets and Writers" magazine ranked the Creative Writing M.F.A. program at the University of Iowa in Iowa City as the best in the country, with the M.F.A. program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as second best. The Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa concludes with the submission of a creative thesis in the form of a creative literary work after a two-year residency. The program at the University of Michigan relies heavily on workshops and also requires the student to defend a creative thesis similar to that which the Iowa Writers' Workshop requires after two years in the program.