Poets & Writers Magazine ranked the University's creative writing master's degree program third overall in the country in its November/December 2009 issue.
"[The program is] one of our biggest strengths and [it is] obviously one of the best writing programs in the country," English Department Chair Cynthia Wall said.
Director of Creative Writing Christopher Tilghman said Poets & Writers based its rankings partially on factors like funding and postgraduate placement, but placed more emphasis on polling students applying to the programs.
"They were trying to avoid the bias of people who had already gone through programs," Tilghman said. "The problem though is that applicants don't know too much about programs they haven't even gone to."
Tilghman also took issue with the way the magazine measured postgraduate success.
"We would argue you should look at publications and postgraduate fellowships in the last 10 years. We have a spectacular record on that," Tilghman said. "We think if they ranked us by publication rate relative to our size over the last 10 years, no one would be better than us."
The Master of Fine Arts for Creative Writing takes seven fiction writers and five poets each year. For those 12 spots, Tilghman says the program gets about 700 applications.
"Our admissions rate is microscopic," he said.
Poets & Writers Magazine ranked the University second in its selectivity category.
Students spend two years in the program, taking both workshops focused on their own writing and more traditional English and literature courses. In their second year, students also teach introductory level courses to undergraduate students, Tilghman said.
Magazines tend not to rank MFA programs. U.S. News and World Report last did it in 1997, and at that time, the University was fourth. U.S. News decided not to do the rankings again, citing that it could never use a rigorous enough methodology.
"If there is a creditable and non-biased organization out there that was going to do this, it could only be Poets & Writers," Tilghman said, "even if the methodology still seems a little weak."
Tilghman added that the University's high ranking means that it could see more applicants and get a chance to admit the best young writers and poets in the country.
"A hard working faculty is one of the most important strengths of the program," Tilghman said, adding that the small, like-minded community and a heavy focus on literature inherited from the English department are other advantages that may draw in more applications.
"I think we are both proud to be associated with each other," Wall said. "The creative writing department is such an important part of the English department in terms of their outstanding faculty and their strong courses, and many of our undergraduates take courses through them."
The University of Iowa was ranked first overall and the University of Michigan was ranked second, according to a University press release. The University of Massachusetts and the University of Texas tied for fourth.
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