2024 Best Creative Writing Schools in California
16
Colleges in California
522
Creative Writing Degrees Awarded
Ranked #120 in popularity,
creative writing is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 16 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of creative writing. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 522 degrees in creative writing during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Creative Writing School
The creative writing program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Creative Writing rankings. We derive our Best Overall Creative Writing School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Pick Your Creative Writing Degree Level
The creative writing school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Creative Writing Schools in California.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.
Best Schools for Creative Writing in California
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the creative writing degree levels they offer.
10 Top California Schools in Creative Writing
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
3rd
Most Popular In CA
45
Creative Writing Degrees Awarded
Every student who is interested in creative writing needs to check out University of Southern California. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 45 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in creative writing from University of Southern California
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
10th
Most Popular In CA
San Diego State University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in creative writing. SDSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 15 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in creative writing from San Diego State University
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
20th
Most Popular In CA
It is difficult to beat San Jose State University if you want to pursue a degree in creative writing. San Jose State is a very large public university located in the large city of San Jose. A Best Colleges rank of #161 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means San Jose State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 6 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at San Jose State in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in creative writing from San Jose State University
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
5th
Most Popular In CA
National University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in creative writing. Located in the city of San Diego, National University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 33rd out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 25 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at National University in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in creative writing from National University
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
4th
Most Popular In CA
USFCA is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #164 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USFCA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 29 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at USFCA in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in creative writing from University of San Francisco
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In CA
102
Creative Writing Degrees Awarded
Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 36th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 102 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in creative writing from University of California - Riverside
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
22nd
Most Popular In CA
Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #52 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.
There were about 4 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in creative writing from University of California - Davis
SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Francisco. This university ranks 35th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 22 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
2nd
Most Popular In CA
58
Creative Writing Degrees Awarded
Chapman is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Orange. This university ranks 32nd out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 58 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in creative writing from Chapman University
CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Long Beach. A Best Colleges rank of #186 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.
There were about 10 creative writing students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in creative writing from California State University - Long Beach
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