The Writing Seminars offer scholarships to the emerging voices we want to support and read. Our community thrives when it can maintain an aesthetically and socially diverse community of literary artists. Most students are at Bennington through a combination of scholarship and financial aid. We also offer a Residential Teaching Fellowship, which provides full tuition remission for one term, plus housing and board to two students per year who are selected through an interview process.

Alumni Fund Scholarships

Each term we award scholarships at varying levels to writers whose work and whose voices we want to support. These awards are made, in part, thanks to generous funding from our alumni. Scholarships are made on the basis of merit, as identified by our faculty admissions readers. Awardees will be notified of their scholarship amount in their acceptance letter. Scholarships are applied across a student's four/five terms. There is no application process.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship

Bennington is committed to attracting the most talented writers from all walks of life and to increasing access to the Writing Seminars for applicants whose voices and vision have been traditionally underrepresented. We prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion when making scholarship decisions.Scholarships are awarded based on merit, as identified by our faculty admissions readers. There is no application process.

All students are considered for merit-based scholarships and should check the box on the application if they'd like to be considered for a scholarship in a particular category. Awardees will be notified of their scholarship amount in their acceptance letter. Scholarships are applied across a student's four/five terms.

Not everyone receives scholarship support but most every student is at Bennington thanks to a combination of financial aid (loans) and scholarship support.

Residential Teaching Fellowship 

The Residential Teaching Fellowship is a full-immersion teaching fellowship is open to enrolled Bennington Writing Seminars MFA students in their second, third, and fourth terms. One fellow will be selected each term through an internal application and interview process. The Residential Teaching Fellow works for a full term in an undergraduate classroom where they assist a Bennington College literature faculty member. 

Students are mentored 1:1 with the on-campus faculty member with whom they are working (in addition to the faculty mentor with whom they have been assigned at BWS.) Benefits include full tuition remission for one term, housing and board, and enrollment in one class offered on campus.

Financial Aid

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan Program. Student loans are the primary source of financial aid available to graduate students, and the best source of loans is the Federal Direct Loan Program. These loans for graduate students are available through the Department of Education.

Low-residency MFA in Writing students can borrow an amount covering the cost of tuition (room and board inclusive) plus an allowance for books, supplies, and transportation. Living costs during the period of non-residency are not covered by loans or other aid.

Repayment begins six months after you graduate or cease to be enrolled. Once your FAFSA has been processed and your eligibility determined, the Financial Aid Office will send you an award letter.

If you wish to accept the student loans you have been offered, you will need to complete an MFA Federal Direct Loan Response form (found on the financial aid web page under forms) and complete the Master Promissory Note and the Entrance Loan Counseling (both may be found at www.studentloans.gov). You will use your FAFSA ID to sign in to the webpage. Your loan will be applied to your tuition bill when you have completed all the steps to accept it.

If you have questions about funding your Bennington education, take a look at our resources page and then contact Michelle Rodda in Bennington's Financial Aid office at:

• 802-440-4325
• finaid@bennington.edu