Perelandra MA in Creative Writing

Does anyone have personal experience with this program that they'd be willing to share? I'd also be interested in any second-hand knowledge or opinions and/or experiences with other fully online (no residency) MA, MFA or MAIS Creative Writing programs. Thanks!

 

(Note that Perelandra lost its DETC accreditation in July. It's now unaccredited.)

 

Perelandra lost DETC accreditation (apparently due to financial concerns) but currently continues to operate as an unaccredited institution in California. This is perfectly legal in California; however, the lack of recognized accreditation means that their degrees may not meet the legal standards of other states, may not qualify for financial aid programs, and may not be recognized by other universities, employers, etc.

Many unaccredited and DETC-accredited schools are very small operations that run on "shoestring" budgets. This appears to be the case for Perelandra. The 2010 Annual Report for the California Bureau for Private Post-Secondary Education has the following stats for them:

- one student started the BA in Writing
- two students started the MA in Creative Writing
- one student graduated with the MA in Writing

Since Perelandra was only founded in 2005, there may be very few people out there -- possibly fewer than 10 -- that have ever completed a degree program from this institution.

 

So - you want a Master's in creative writing? You have choices, including:

(a) Perelandra - an unaccredited school with a funny name, unless you know the origin :smile:
(b) DETC-accredited Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, here: Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing - A program of the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts

Johann

 

However, the OP wants "fully online (no residency)" programs. That will limit the choices considerably.

For example, Northwest Institute of Literary Arts would appear to be out, since they require two 10-day residencies annually.

 

Right --I guess Northwest Institute would be out. There's another thread with two other fully on-line suggestions here:

http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/34104-where-can-i-study-mfa-creative-writing-fully-online.html

Oops -sorry. Looks like the OP has already seen it. My apologies.

Johann

 

Thanks, everyone! The additional info about Perelandra is very helpful.