The Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a low-residency international program designed for students who want to be professional writers, to teach creative writing at the college level, or to enjoy the satisfaction of writing and reading in an individualized program. It requires five semesters and 36 credits. Four semesters begin with an intensive 11-day residency at either Carlow University in Pittsburgh or St. Patrick-Carlow College in Carlow, Ireland.  At the end of each residency, students spend five months writing and reading in their chosen genre under the supervision of the professional writer with whom they worked during residency. The student may devote one residency and its adjoining practicum to another genre. The student:faculty ratio is 5:1.

Students must complete the following degree requirements:

1. Four 11-day intensive residencies alternating in Pittsburgh and Carlow, Ireland.
   
   
2. Four practicum semesters with a faculty mentor. Students will normally work with two or three mentors over the five semesters.
   
   
3. A fifth semester to produce an original manuscript of publishable quality in fiction, poetry or creative nonfiction. By the middle of the fourth semester, in consultation with the director of the MFA program, students choose a mentor for their creative manuscripts from among the mentors with whom they have worked.
   
   
4. A defense of the creative manuscript which includes a meeting with the academic review committee and a public reading from the manuscript followed by questions and answers.