Tuition, Scholarships, and Aid
Tuition
Tuition for the MFA in Creative Writing at Butler University is set at $920.00 per credit hour for the 2025-2026 school year. Allowing for small annual increases in tuition, a student entering the program in Fall 2025 should expect tuition and fees for the degree to total roughly $33,000. A quick glance at the tuition costs for other MFAs shows that Butler is an extraordinary value, especially when one considers the high quality of our faculty and visitors, our small class sizes, and our auxiliary programming.
More information about tuition, billing, and payment can be found at the Student Accounts webpage.
Funding
The MFA at Butler offers considerable funding to its students through a growing system of scholarships tied to service and professional development.
Scholarships
Efroymson Scholarships: The Efroymson Family Fund, a fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, sponsors the Efroymson Scholarships in Creative Writing. These scholarships are awarded to applicants who show great promise. The scholarship typically awards $15,000 to scholars, applied as $6,000 for the first two years and $3,000 for a third year.
K-12 Teacher Discount: Announced in Feb 2023, the MFA will offer a special tuition discount for any K-12 teacher in Central Indiana. The discount will be applicable throughout the student’s time earning the degree. Please contact our MFA Director for more information.
Work-Study
A variety of funding opportunities are available, some directly from the MFA program and many through our affiliate programs.
Section editors are hired by application and must have previous experience as a Booth reader. Editorial positions are awarded with a partial tuition waiver, which varies by position.
Vonnegut Youth Writing Internships:
As part of an ongoing partnership between Butler MFA’s Writing in the Schools Program, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library (KVML), students can apply for a paid internship that will place them as writing tutors within four IPS high school writing centers (Arsenal Tech, Crispus Attucks, George Washington, and Shortridge). These interns will support high school students with a variety of writing tasks—from academic papers to college application essays— and will also help to establish an after-school creative writing club at the respective high school they are assigned to.
Both current and incoming MFAs are eligible for this opportunity.
Funded directly by the MFA program, fellows shadow and assist instructors teaching undergraduate core courses, most likely First Year Seminar. Awarded by application, with a one-year appointment. Teaching Fellows are awarded a partial tuition waiver.
First year MFA students are ineligible for teaching fellowships.
Open only to students who have previous experience at a university writing center. The Writers’ Studio provides tutoring to undergraduate students of all majors. Graduate tutors report directly to the Director of Peer Tutoring, who makes all hiring decisions, including rate and hours. MFA administration only provides references.
Financial Aid
Financial Aid is available to graduate students through Federal Direct Loans, Federal Direct Plus Loans, and private loan mechanisms. Graduate students must attend the MFA half-time (3 credit hours or more per semester) to be eligible (please consult with the Office of Financial Aid to confirm such details in your case). Loans are also available for summer study.
Visit the financial aid website for more information. For counseling, please contact Financial Aid at 317-940-8200 or toll free at 877-940-8200.
Health Insurance
For information on health insurance options for Butler graduate students, please contact Butler University Health Services, 317-940-8728.
Tuition Remission
Tuition Remission is a Butler employee HR benefit. Tuition Remission provides qualified, eligible participants with free tuition toward most Butler undergraduate and/or graduate degrees or certain eligible post baccalaureate credit bearing certificate programs. The benefit is for tuition only and does not cover fees or other costs associated with coursework or enrollment. For more information on participant definitions, eligibility requirements, and benefit use, please visit the Butler HR website.
Tuition remission students may comprise no more than:
- 2 students in fiction
- 2 students in nonfiction
- 2 students in poetry
The program will observe an overall cap of 6 tuition remission students at any given time. (This provision allows for the possibility of students switching genres mid-program.)
Once the program reaches the cap in a genre, no additional tuition remission students may be admitted in that area until a space opens. Applicants who are otherwise qualified will be informed of the policy and encouraged to reapply in a future term when space is available. In extraordinary cases, the program reserves the right to make an exception to these caps when doing so would clearly serve the best interests of the program.
Tuition remission students are expected to complete the MFA program within 4 years. This timeline helps ensure that other Butler employees can also access this benefit. If a student does not complete the program within 4 years, they may apply for a single additional year to finish their degree, though such an extension is not guaranteed.