Students with a master’s degree, extensive graduate work, or extraordinary professional experience may be invited to present a Post-Baccalaureate Portfolio. The program director, in consultation with faculty, will review the portfolio, and may grant 15–18 semester hours of credit, allowing the applicant to proceed towards completion of the Master of Fine Arts degree requirements within an abbreviated timeframe (without first completing the Master of Letters degree). The Post-Baccalaureate Portfolio should provide a detailed account of relevant coursework or professional experience and how it relates to analogous courses in the S&P graduate catalog. (Certain courses are exempt from consideration for prior credit.)
Granted credit hours and course credit for work at Mary Baldwin University must total 54 credit hours for completion of the MFA. In other words, students granted 15–18 hours of prior credit must complete a minimum of 36 hours in the S&P program. A Post-Baccalaureate student must complete all non-exempt MLitt required courses and complete the requirements for the MFA degree, including the MFA thesis. If a Post-Baccalaureate Portfolio applicant is deemed eligible for fewer than 15 granted credits, he or she will be advised to proceed with the standard MLitt/MFA academic program, with a possibility for award of transfer credits.