Admission to the Graduate School is open to anyone holding a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree from an accredited college or university. In cases, where a program's accrediting body allows alternate admissions standards, exceptions may be made. Applicants should have completed undergraduate or graduate work of sufficient quality and scope to enable them to successfully pursue graduate study. The University of Memphis offers equal educational opportunity to all persons without regard to race, religion, sex, creed, color, national origin or disability.
Baccalaureate Degree: The applicant must provide an official transcript showing that a bachelor's degree was awarded by an accredited college or university. If you are a UofM undergraduate student applying to Graduate School at UofM, you do not need to request that an official transcript be sent to Graduate Admissions. This office has access to your transcript. In addition, transcripts from any other college or university attended may be requested. Only transcripts received directly from an issuing institution are considered official. Personal copies are not acceptable as official documents.
GPA: The applicant must have earned an acceptable grade point average, typically a minimum of 2.5 on a scale of 4.0, but departments may make exceptions for students whose overall GPA does not adequately reflect their ability to succeed in their chosen field.
English proficiency test scores required by the University:

Duolingo English Test- For students affected by test center closures due to COVID-19, the University is temporarily accepting Duolingo as an alternative. 100 or higher on the overall score, all sub scores must be at least 80.
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) Institution code 1459. TOEFL - 550 or higher on the paper version, 79 or higher on the internet-based test
IELTS (International English Language Testing System- 6.0 or higher
PTE (Pearson Test of English) - 53 or higher
An overall minimum grade point average of 2.75 at the undergraduate level.
An official undergraduate and if applicable graduate transcript sent to Graduate Admissions.
A portfolio of published or unpublished writing samples in the applicant's chosen genre (at least 20-25 pages of fiction, 10 poems, or 25 pages of nonfiction), demonstrating a potential for development to a professional standard of writing, should be submitted to the English Graduate Office along with two letters of recommendation and a cover letter stating the candidate's choice of genre and reasons for pursuing the degree. The writing sample will be evaluated by a committee of MFA faculty. The committee will recommend admission of those applicants with the highest demonstrated talent.
Students who wish to change genres after being accepted in one genre, even if they are already registered and enrolled in the program, must submit a new portfolio of work in the new genre and be approved by the MFA faculty for admission in the new genre.
Bachelor's degree in English or if BA is in another field, twelve (12) semester hours in upper division literature or creative writing courses with a minimum grade point average of 2.75 in these courses.
Deadlines: for best consideration apply by March 1 for the following fall semester admission and October 15 for following spring semester. Applications may be considered later but prospective students applying by those dates have first priority.