FINANCIAL SUPPORT

If you join our three-year MFA program in 2024, you will receive fellowship support and/or teaching income in the amount of up to $30,600 in the first two academic years and up to $24,480 in the third, as well as full funding of your tuition, enrollment fees, and the health insurance premium for single-person coverage through the university. Tax obligations on your fellowship income will vary from student to student depending on other income earned during the tax year, U.S. vs. international status, and other factors. See below.

You will have limited teaching in your first academic year of study so that you can focus on your writing. In the spring of that first year, you will teach one introductory-level creative writing workshop (introduction to fiction writing or poetry writing, depending on the genre of your acceptance). In your second year, you will teach one introductory-level creative writing workshop each semester. We provide pedagogical training and peer support to help you build courses that meet our university and program requirements, but the courses are largely of your own design: you create the exercises, reading list, and course structure. We know of few MFA programs in the country that offer such an opportunity to graduate students.

We fund all of our MFA students at the same level during their time in our program. Students do not have to re-compete for funding during their years at UVA. Like awards and fellowships at most universities, our offer of fellowship and teaching support is contingent on your satisfactory academic performance and compliance with all applicable university, school, and departmental policies, including but not limited to those governing student conduct, academics, and the UVA Honor System.

ACADEMIC FLEXIBILITY

At the beginning of your second year, you will declare whether you intend to stay for a third year or graduate the following May on an accelerated schedule. Approval for a third year of teaching will depend on performance in the MFA program, teaching evaluations and a demonstrated commitment to teaching, and, of course, adequate progress on your thesis project. For this third year we offer the standard teaching assistantship package at a 2/2 load (teaching wages for two classes each term), as well as full funding of your tuition, enrollment fees, and the health insurance premium for single-person coverage through the university. Students enrolled in third years can continue taking graduate-level coursework at the University of Virginia, though they do not generally enroll in our workshops. Students in a third year typically teach one section of a 2000-level creative writing course and three ENWR 1510 sections (Writing and Critical Inquiry) over the academic year.

Students who choose to graduate on an accelerated two-year schedule receive the same fellowship and wages outlined above but are not eligible to receive summer funding after they graduate in May. 

TAXES

Just like at any other US college or university, UVA fellowship support is considered reportable, taxable income by the IRS, as are teaching wages. See this Scholarship Tax Information page and the Student Financial Services page for more details on your reporting responsibilities. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires that the University of Virginia apply specific federal tax withholding and reporting rules to payments made to international students and scholars, which vary depending on a student's home country.

TRAVEL AND OTHER FUNDING

We do not have dedicated program funds available for student travel, conference fees, summer projects, or literary research. Our students can apply for support through UVA's College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences or the English Department on a case-by-case basis, but we cannot guarantee these other funds at acceptance. As a program, we have focused on building a solid and equitable core funding package, but we continue to look for new ways to support MFA students who wish to take their studies beyond the confines of UVA.