creative writing major purdue

Undergraduate Admissions

• Creative Writing

Purdue University in West Lafayette

Creative Writing focuses on writing poetry, fiction, or drama. This major is perfect for students who love to write and who do so no matter what. Many creative writing students double major in creative writing and another area, like professional writing.

Most Creative Writing majors and minors want to have creative writing as a component of their future. As a creative writing major, you’ll learn many skills that employers find desirable, which may lead to jobs in publishing, marketing, management, and more. Other students plan to attend graduate school to hone their skills and further develop their art.

All liberal arts majors prepare students with the skills identified as contributing to managerial success:  communicating and listening well, possessing insights into others, creative/critical thinking, problem solving, and the ability to make connections across complex ideas.

Degree in 3

Plan of Study

• Creative Writing, BA

Transfer to Creative Writing

Purdue admits to individual majors. Transfer students must meet Purdue's overall transfer criteria , as well as any major-specific requirements. Before you apply, check the closed programs page to confirm this major is open to transfer students. If it is, refer to the information below for major-specific transfer criteria.

Minimum GPA: 2.5

Contact Information

Undergraduate Student Recruitment Office (765) 494-6291 [email protected]

Careers in Creative Writing

•   Writer
•   Teacher
•   Editor
•   Advertiser
•   Social Media Manager
•   Journalist
•   Freelance Writing
•   Production Assistant
•   Marketing Director
•   Attorney
• Marketing, Advertising, Communication, and Writing
• Public Service or Social Sciences
• Teaching and Education
• African American Studies
• American Studies
• Anthropology
• Art History
• Artificial Intelligence
• Asian Studies
• Chinese Studies
• Classical Studies
• Communication (multiple concentrations)
• Comparative Literature
• Digital Criminology
• Economics (Pre) (College of Liberal Arts)
• Film and Video
• Global Studies
• Industrial Design
• Integrated Studio Arts, BFA (Portfolio Required)
• Interior Design - Professional Program
• Italian Studies
• Jewish Studies
• Law and Society (Criminology)
• Linguistics
• Political Science
• Pre-dentistry
• Pre-medicine
• Pre-occupational Therapy
• Pre-physical Therapy
• Pre-physician Assistant
• Professional Writing
• Religious Studies
• Sound for the Performing Arts (Portfolio Required)
• Studio Arts and Technology
• Visual Arts Design Education
• Visual Arts Education
• Visual Communication Design (Graphic Design)
• Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies
• College of Liberal Arts

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Purdue University - Main Campus BA in Creative Writing

Creative Writing is a concentration offered under the writing studies major at Purdue University - Main Campus. We’ve gathered data and other essential information about the bachelor’s degree program in creative writing, such as diversity of students, how many students graduated in recent times, and more.

If there’s something special you’re looking for, you can use one of the links below to find it:

• Undergraduate Cost
• Online Learning
• Student Diversity
• Related Majors

Featured Programs

Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.

BA in Creative Writing & English

Develop your creativity and gain practical skills with a creative writing degree program –featuring 100% online classes – through a bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.

How Much Does a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing from Purdue Cost?

Purdue undergraduate tuition and fees.

During the 2019-2020 academic year, part-time undergraduate students at Purdue paid an average of $948 per credit hour if they came to the school from out-of-state. In-state students paid a discounted rate of $348 per credit hour. The following table shows the average full-time tuition and fees for undergraduates.

Learn more about Purdue tuition and fees.

Does Purdue Offer an Online BA in Creative Writing?

Purdue does not offer an online option for its creative writing bachelor’s degree program at this time. To see if the school offers distance learning options in other areas, visit the Purdue Online Learning page.

Purdue Bachelor’s Student Diversity for Creative Writing

Male-to-female ratio.

Of the students who received their bachelor’s degree in creative writing in 2019-2020, 66.7% of them were women. This is less than the nationwide number of 72.8%.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

Of those graduates who received a bachelor’s degree in creative writing at Purdue in 2019-2020, 25.0% were racial-ethnic minorities*. This is about the same as the nationwide number of 26%.

Majors Related to a BA in Creative Writing From Purdue

You may also be interested in one of these majors related to creative writing.

View All Creative Writing Related Majors >

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online

More about our data sources and methodologies .

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The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

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The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

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Department of English College of Liberal Arts

Current Graduate Students

Kanika Ahuja

Logan Akinwale

Monir Gholamzadeh-Bazarbashq

About the Program

Creative writing majors focus on writing poetry, fiction, or drama. In addition to the required five courses in writing, students take six or more courses in either literature or linguistics. Creative writing is appropriate for students who love to write and who do so no matter what. Many students choose to double major in creative writing and professional writing. Most students in this major want to pursue a career as a writer of poetry, drama, or fiction. Many plan to attend graduate school to hone their skill and further develop their art. Other students will take jobs in industry while pursuing their writing as an avocation. A student with an English major (including the creative writing major) learns many skills that employers find desirable, which may lead them to jobs in publishing, marketing, management, etc.

Sycamore Review , a nonprofit journal for the arts, was founded in 1988 and is published twice annually by Purdue University’s Department of English.

Books and Coffee talks (hosted by the Department of English) are held several times throughout the school year. Coffee and tea are available, followed by a half-hour talk about a selected work. The series is popular with faculty, staff, and students.

Please visit Creative Writing for more information.

Degree Requirements

120 credits required, liberal arts core curriculum.

Each liberal arts major is designed as a four-year plan of study and includes three types of courses: Major, Core, and Elective. Most students take five courses per semester, with some of each type.

Professional academic advisors meet individually with each of our students on a regular basis to help with course selection, academic planning, and career development, as well as to help students find additional resources on campus.

For the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum click here   .

Departmental/Program Major Course Requirements (30 credits)

English majors must take ENGL 10600  or  ENGL 10800 to fulfill the requirements for the CLA Core areas Written Communication.

Required Course (3 credits)

A grade of “B-” or better is required before attempting courses in Area A.

• ENGL 20500 - Introduction To Creative Writing

A. Creative Writing Courses (12 credits)

Choose four courses from the following list.

All Creative Writing courses except 20500, 31600, and 31700 may be repeated once by Creative Writing majors for credit. (The 40000 and 50000 level courses should be taken in order in any given genre; exceptions are granted by the permission of instructor.)

• ENGL 31600 - Craft Of Fiction From A Writer’s Perspective or
• ENGL 31700 - Craft Of Poetry From a Writer’s Perspective
• ENGL 40700 - Intermediate Poetry Writing
• ENGL 40800 - Creative Writing Capstone (Permission of instructor required.)
• ENGL 40900 - Intermediate Fiction Writing
• ENGL 50700 - Advanced Poetry Writing
• ENGL 50900 - Fiction Writing

B. Engaging English (3 credits)

May be taken concurrently with ENGL 20500.

• ENGL 20200 - Engaging English

C. Literature/Linguistics/English Education (12 credits)

Select any ENGL course. At least 9 credit hours must be at the 30000 level or above.

Other Departmental/Program Course Requirements (57 credits)

For the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum click here .

• ENGL 10600 - First-Year Composition (satisfies Written Communication for core) or
• ENGL 10800 - Accelerated First-Year Composition (satisfies Written Communication for core) or
• SCLA 10100 - Transformative Texts, Critical Thinking And Communication I: Antiquity To Modernity (satisfies Written Communication for core)
• COM 11400 - Fundamentals Of Speech Communication (satisfies Oral Communication for core) or
• SCLA 10200 - Transformative Texts, Critical Thinking And Communication II: Modern World (satisfies Oral Communication for core)
• Other Languages (Proficiency through Level IV in one language) (satisfies Humanities for core)  - Credits Hours: 12.00
• Mathematics (satisfies Quantitative Reasoning for core)  - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Statistics (satisfies Quantitative Reasoning for core)  - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Western Heritage - Credit Hours: 3.00
• United States Tradition (satisfies Behavioral Social Science for core - if POL 10100     was taken)  - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Other Cultures (satisfies Behavioral Social Science for core - if ANTH 20500    was taken)  - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Aesthetic Awareness - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Racial and Ethnic Diversity - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Gender Issues - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Social Ethics (satisfies Science, Technology & Society for core - if PHIL 27000    or POL 22300     was taken)  - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Individual and Society - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Global Perspective (satisfies Science, Technology & Society for core - if HIST 38400    or HIST 38700     was taken)  - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Natural Sciences (satisfies Science for core - requires 6 credits)  - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Natural Sciences Lab - Credit Hours: 3.00

Electives (33 credits)

University core requirements.

• Human Cultures Humanities
• Human Cultures Behavioral/Social Science
• Information Literacy
• Science, Technology, and Society
• Written Communication
• Oral Communication
• Quantitative Reasoning

For a complete listing of course selectives, visit the Provost’s Website .

Prerequisite Information:

For current pre-requisites for courses, click here .

Program Requirements

Fall 1st year.

• ENGL 10600 - First-Year Composition or
• SCLA 10100 - Transformative Texts, Critical Thinking And Communication I: Antiquity To Modernity or
• ENGL 10800 - Accelerated First-Year Composition
• MATH  - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Foreign Language 10100: Credit Hours 3.00
• Western Heritage: Credit Hours 3.00
• Elective: Credit Hours 3.00

Spring 1st Year

• SCLA 10200 - Transformative Texts, Critical Thinking And Communication II: Modern World or
• COM 11400 - Fundamentals Of Speech Communication
• Statistics: 3.00
• US Traditions: 3.00
• Foreign Language 10200 - Credit Hours: 3.00 
• Elective: 3.00

Fall 2nd Year

• ENGL 20500 - Introduction To Creative Writing ♦
• Foreign Language 20100 - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Natural Science Lab: 3.00
• Individual & Society: 3.00

Spring 2nd Year

• ENGL 20200 - Engaging English ♦
• Area A: Credit hours 3.00
• Foreign Language 20200: Credit Hours 3.00
• Natural Science: Credit Hours 3.00
• Racial & Ethnic Diversity: Credit Hours 3.00

Fall 3rd Year

• Area A: Credit Hours 3.00
• Area C: Credit Hours 3.00
• Global Prespective: Credit Hours 3.00
• Gender Issues: Credit Hours 3.00

Spring 3rd Year

• Area A - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Area C - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Social Ethics - Credit Hours: 3.00
• Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00

Fall 4th Year

• Other Cultures - Credit Hours: 3.00

Spring 4th Year

• Elective- Credit Hours: 3.00

2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Arts degree.

32 credit hours of Purdue coursework at the 30000 level or higher required for Bachelor of Arts degree.

Liberal Arts offers a streamlined plan of study for students pursuing a second degree outside CLA. Contact the CLA Advising Office for more information.

Foreign Language Courses

Foreign Language proficiency requirements vary by program.  For acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor: American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, (ancient) Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

Critical Course

The ♦ course is considered critical. A Critical Course is one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major.

The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements. The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.

Course Requirements (18 Credits)

• 2.5 GPA Minimum in the Minor
• No Credit Hours for the Minor may be taken Pass/No Pass

Required Courses (9 Credits)

• ENGL 30502 - Creative Writing As A Profession
• ENGL 20500 - Introduction To Creative Writing
• ENGL 31900 - Creative Writing
• ENGL 42001 - Careers In English
• ENGL 48000 - Internship In Writing

Creative Writing Electives (6 Credits)

Choose Two:

• ENGL 40700 - Introduction To Poetry Writing
• ENGL 40900 - Introduction To Fiction Writing
• ENGL 41800 - Short Fiction Writing
• ENGL 40000 - Creative Non-Fiction Writing
• ENGL 41000 - Introduction To Creative Nonfiction Writing

Technical and Professional Writing Electives (3 Credits)

Choose One:

• ENGL 30200 - Publications Design
• ENGL 40400 - Web Page Design
• ENGL 40600 - Review Writing
• ENGL 41101 - Introduction To Writing In The Health Sciences
• ENGL 41900 - Multimedia Writing
• ENGL 42000 - Business Writing
• ENGL 42100 - Technical Writing
• ENGL 42501 - Writing For New Media
• ENGL 42601 - Writing For Social Media
• ENGL 43000 - Professional Copy Editing
• ENGL 43100 - Web Usability: Writing And Reading On The Web
• ENGL 43500 - Topics In Writing For Interactive Digital Media
• ENGL 43600 - Writing For Informational Interactive Media
• ENGL 43700 - Writing For Video Games
• ENGL 45100 - Feature Writing

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• Transcripts

English and Linguistics Programs

Harness the power of words..

Whether you’re reading them, writing them, studying them, analyzing them, or saying them, you cannot escape words. So why not embrace them? 

Creative Writing Minor

Storytelling is important in many different ways. It opens minds, it educates, it inspires, it makes the world a more beautiful and interesting place, and it’s a highly transferable skill. With a creative writing minor, you’ll get to share your stories and pick your specialty in either fiction or poetry.

Program Highlights

• The development of problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
• The ability to research and analyze information
• An enhanced understanding of the art of persuasion
• An opportunity to express yourself creatively
• Support from the Mastodon community
• A prestigious Purdue education

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For more information about all the scholarships available at Purdue Fort Wayne—including opportunities for specific programs—you can visit the  Office of Financial Aid  or contact us at  [email protected] .

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Requirements and Curriculum Overview

Our comprehensive curriculum and diverse requirements will challenge you to go further than you ever imagined. Check out what you can expect as you advance through our program.

• Content Strategist
• Forensic Linguist
• Literary Critic
• Public Relations Specialist
• Screenwriter
• Technical Writer

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