The worth of an MFA program is always going to be a mystery

Every now and then I see posts on Reddit asking about MFA programs: Is it worth pursuing?

Even though I graduated from a reputable and expensive program, and with almost ten years of perspective since, I still have no idea.

Money is always the biggest issue

The most obvious and immediate consideration is tuition – Columbia is probably one of the most expensive programs tuition-wise ($100k sticker price in 2013), and that’s before you have to pay NYC living expenses. Fully-funded programs are rarer and smaller (and more competitive as a result) and they usually require you to teach as part of the program, which can be great if you want that experience.

I took out about $80k worth of loans over the course of a two-year program and I have yet to pay them off. They’re coming due in 2025, which included the two-year forbearance period during COVID, and while I’ve only got a few thousand dollars on the balance, that’s a long time to be in debt for something that isn’t a house! Thankfully, I was reasonably certain that I could rely on my software engineering experience to get a post-grad job that paid enough to cover the debt.

There’s also very little money to be had as a writer unless you’re extremely talented, lucky, and hard-working. I’ve made a total of $500 from writing as part of a travel grant I received during my time in the MFA program. That’s it.

But also, I did get my job at Peloton directly through people I met at Columbia. So…does that count? What would the alternative have been? Maybe I would’ve been able to get another software engineering job on my own, but would it have paid as well? Would I have benefited from the COVID pandemic in the same way? Would I have enjoyed it as much? There are so many unknowns and no guarantees that it really isn’t meaningful to think about it.

MFAs aren’t mandatory

This should be self-evident, but a lot of people still ask whether they “need” one and of course the answer is “no.” It depends on what you want to do afterward, but it’s absolutely possible to become a journalist or a novelist with a master’s degree in English or with nothing at all. The famous debate between MFA vs NYC still applies, but it’s easier to get where you want to go if you a) have a degree, b) have connections, and c) have a guided learning experience.

I hadn’t taken any literature classes in undergrad so I wanted a program that would let me take tons of classes. The New School’s program had students take one workshop and one seminar per semester, both scheduled in the evenings. This would’ve been a great program for anyone who needed to work, and it was about half Columbia’s tuition. Columbia’s program was full-time only and required students to take a workshop and three seminars per semester, with maybe one or two 4-week optional master classes on top of that.

The “MFA tone” is real

I’ve heard worry that “literary” writing coming from MFA students has this very average quality to it, like it’s the product of a lot of people’s opinions. This is a real worry. The tone often feels soulless and overly-curated, maybe a little academic.

I don’t think you can learn to write well without getting opinions from other people, serious writers or not, so in any case, writers will have to learn how to become more discerning in the peer advice they follow – who to trust and what comments seem to understand what the writers want for their stories.

The stereotypical MFA tone is just a product of collectives of writers who are potentially more uniformly serious about writing. These stories can still be good, even great, but the issue isn’t unique to MFA programs.

I’m guessing here, but I suspect the prevalence of the MFA tone is, to some extent, selection bias. Non-MFA writers, who may not have a stable of talented readers and fellow writers, generally don’t get their writing published in “literary”-type journals as often as MFA writers, especially looking at the early-career demographic.

Good writing teachers in any environment can help early writers practice the skill of acknowledging all critique and choosing only the most relevant notes.

Opportunity cost

What else could you do with your time? Why do you even want an MFA in the first place? Are you trying to escape your dead-end job? Could you focus on a job search? Find a good therapist? Could you instead join local workshops and audit literature classes at a local college?

With my $100k tuition, I could have taken a much lower mortgage, or invested for retirement, or afforded more opportunities for my kids (who weren’t yet born during my time in an MFA program). All that before considering that I had also quit my full-time job to go to school.

It would have been less of an issue if I had gone to a fully-funded or part-time program, but I didn’t get into a fully-funded program and didn’t like the offerings at the part-time programs. In any case, future MFA generations need to consider what else they could be doing with their time and money on top of tuition and living expenses.

The good parts

Enrolling in a full-time program forced me to focus on writing, something I may not have been so conscientious about if I had done a part-time program, or decided against an MFA program. With lots of competing priorities, I know that I can get stretched thin and burned out pretty quickly if I’m really gunning to achieve a personal goal, so enrolling in an MFA program was a way to force my own hand timewise.

And I did get to take a ton of literature classes that introduced me to lots of books and authors I otherwise would never have read. That and the commentary from professors and classroom discussions helped me improve my deep reading, honed my literary vocabulary, and offered a pretty detailed and rounded perspective on the pieces.

I don’t know that workshops were any better or worse. It should be easy to find good workshop leaders in big cities, especially somewhere like NYC, but a workshop can really only be as good as the people in it. I’ve been lucky to have good workshops both in an out of MFA programs.

I wasn’t very good about keeping in touch with classmates and teachers - part of this was due to COVID and moving away from NYC - but anyone who’s more community-minded than I am should be able to make valuable, lasting connections in an MFA program. I’m not sure that I would’ve found a way to make similar connections in the literary sphere outside of an MFA.

No regrets

Whatever path the aspiring writer chooses, I recommend giving 100% to it, otherwise it becomes easier to regret the paths not taken. For the limited time an MFA program provides guidance, writers should take advantage to the fullest extent and get what they signed up for.

I definitely don’t regret choosing Columbia, high sticker price and everything, but I did have to forecast my finances pretty well beforehand to make sure I could afford it with wiggle room.

But was it “worth it?”

I still don’t know. At this point, it’s in the past and the experience has been woven into the tapestry of my life. Anyone faced with the same choice will need to pick a path, but with enough time the question will cease to matter.

Do it because you want that particular experience, not because it will bring professional success. Once you’ve chosen, don’t think about the question ever again.