Tuition, Scholarships, and Aid

Section Editors (hired by application): Three positions, one each in Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction. Editors manage the workflow of submissions to Booth. They assign work to their respective staffs, send out rejection letters, work toward a 60-day turnaround on all submissions, push the best work monthly to roundtable discussion, and take an active role in facilitating conversation at the roundtable meetings. Editor pay is on a sliding scale based on volume of work, between $1,000- $2,000.  Section Editors must have previous experience as a Booth reader, so new students are not eligible.

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. The compensation for the internship will be commensurate with the cost of an MFA course (approximately $2,500 per semester) and will be a full school year appointment, barring extenuating circumstances. Selected interns will be asked to participate in a daylong training workshop before the start of the fall semester and will be expected to work at least 12 hours per week at their designated writing center location.

Mentors (4 per year): Bridge Mentors work at our Writing Club, which meets once a month. Each mentor is responsible for planning and teaching creative writing lessons for an assigned age group (elementary, middle school, or high school). One floating mentor assists where needed. Writing Club serves local students grades 3–12. Mentors are paid $50 per session of Writing Club and are hired by the Bridge Program Coordinator, with preference given to students with previous teaching experience and/or demonstrated skill working with children.

Teachers (varies by need): Bridge Teachers lead a one-time workshop for the Bridge audience. Workshops are two hours long and teach students about a topic of craft. Teaching positions are filled through a call out and proposal process, and teachers are paid half the profits generated from registration, at a minimum of $100. MFAs with previous teaching experience are preferred.

Teaching Fellows (8–10 per year): Funded directly by the MFA program, fellows shadow and assist instructors teaching undergraduate courses in First Year Seminar, or MFA faculty teaching Perspectives on the Creative Arts and creative writing courses in the English department. First year MFA students are ineligible for teaching fellowships, and positions are awarded first to MFAs who haven’t yet served as a fellow. FYS Fellows are paired with a professor by the FYS director and are paid $1,200 per semester, serving for one year. PCA and creative writing fellows are also paid $1,200 per semester, with an appointment of one semester.

Graduate Tutors (varies by need): 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.