FAQ

Tuition is $1,735 per unit for 2026–27. The degree is 28 units, so the total is about $48,580, plus residency fees, before scholarships. USF alumni and current students may receive the Double Dons award covering 20% of tuition. The program is able to give out one $15,000 Dean's Scholarship for the year.

Students gather in person twice a year, in January and July. The January residency is in the Bay Area, and the July residency is on the USF campus.

No. A bachelor's degree in any field is required, but no prior publication is necessary although some students are published. The writing sample is the most heavily weighted part of the application, so polished creative work matters more than credentials.

Any category of writing for young readers: picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult, as well as nonfiction in all categories, graphic novels, short stories, novels-in-verse, and poetry. You work one-on-one with a faculty advisor in your area.

Plan on up to about 18 hours a week between residencies—a mix of reading, writing, and thinking—including a bibliography, craft essay, and roughly 40 pages of new and revised creative work sent to your advisor each month.

Yes. Our certificate courses—Boot Camp, Fundamentals, Intermediate, and Summer Intensive Certificate—let you build craft before you apply or keep learning afterward. We also offer one-on-one Advanced Studies and a Certificate in Creative Writing Pedagogy to students who already have an MFA or MA.

We focus exclusively on writing for young readers. Advisors take no more than four students each, publishing-industry voices are built into the curriculum, and community-building begins at your first residency. Our faculty have extensive industry experience, and our curriculum is innovative and designed to prepare you for the business of publishing as well as the art and craft of it. We also pay faculty fairly, unlike other low-residency MFA programs.

We’ve built a faculty of award-winning authors published across all categories of children’s literature. Our matching process considers your preferences, your needs, and our professional judgment. Your advisor will have no more than four students and will give you extraordinary focus.

People who want to write for young readers aren't like everybody else. You understand how important kids' books are. And you've dreamed of writing them — maybe even since you were a child yourself. We see you. We've been where you are. And we want to help you make your dream come true.