Write books for young readers in a two-year, low-residency program. Study any form and genre, from picture books to young adult novels, nonfiction, graphic novels, and poetry. Work one-on-one with award-winning authors.
The Spring application is open. The priority application deadline is September 15.
We admit students for both Summer and Winter starts. Priority deadlines are February 15 (Summer) and September 15 (Winter). Apply by the priority deadline to be considered for a merit scholarship.
Contact: Martha Brockenbrough, Program Director: mfayoungreaders@usfca.edu
Format: Low-residency: two in-person residencies per year (January and July), with mentored remote work in between.
Length: Two years, four semesters, plus a fifth graduating residency.
Units: 28 units (about 14 per academic year).
What you can study: Picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade, young adult, nonfiction, graphic novels, short stories, and poetry.
Tuition: $1,735 per unit (2026–27); about $48,580 total, plus residency fees of about $2,000 each.
Scholarships: $15,000 Dean's Scholarship available for one student a year; Double Dons 20% tuition award for USF alumni and students. Smaller additional merit scholarships available.
Advisor ratio: No more than four students per faculty advisor.
Our faculty are among the most prominent authors working in children’s and young adult literature today. Collectively, they have received four Michael L. Printz Awards and several Printz Honors, two Newbery Awards, multiple Newbery Honors, and more than a dozen National Book Award finalist citations.
Their work has also earned a wide range of additional distinctions, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award, Stonewall Book Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the National Jewish Book Award, Sydney Taylor Medals, the Lambda Literary Award, International Latino Book Awards, a Nebula Award, and a Caldecott Honor, alongside multiple New York Times bestsellers.
Awards, though, are only part of the picture. Every member of our faculty is an experienced, dedicated teacher and mentor who works one-on-one with students, knows how to make the craft of writing learnable, and is committed to developing new writers while continuing their own acclaimed work.
Programs devoted entirely to writing for young readers are rare—this is all we do, not a sidelight. You'll work one-on-one with award-winning authors who take no more than four students each, learn the craft alongside the realities of publishing from industry voices built into the curriculum, and begin building your writing community at your very first residency. Before you apply or after you graduate, our certificate courses keep you growing. Without books for young readers, there are no readers. This is why we believe these are the most important books of all.
This program is designed to fit into your life. We are low-residency, meaning you come to campus twice a year for brief intervals of intensive study. The rest of the time, you work from home under the one-on-one supervision of your faculty advisor. Expect to spend up to 20 hours a week on your work (a combination of reading, writing, and thinking).
Our program, unlike some others, believes in preparing writers for the realities of publishing. The craft of writing is central, but there are also important things about the business writers need to know. We include voices from the publishing industry in your curriculum for this reason. We will help you begin the work of building the community that makes careers possible. That work begins during your very first residency.
Thinking about making the leap into a writing career?
Read our guide to explore what an MFA in Writing involves, and how this degree can shape your path as a writer.
Program Director
Writing for young readers is the most important type of writing a person can do. This is where literacy begins. This is where children expand their horizons and their understanding of who they are and what it means to be alive.”
Program Director
