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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University's Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is among the top 25 in the country, according to the 2013 MFA Index reported in the September/October issue of Poets & Writers magazine.

The ranking is based on data collected from the previous year's MFA applications throughout the country, and weighs factors such as popularity, selectivity, class size and funding. OSU's program, which was established in 2002, appeared on the list for the first time this year at No. 22.

"We've definitely gotten the word out to future applicants that OSU's MFA program will give them the mentoring and literary training, supportive community, and inspiring environment they need in order to realize their potential as writers," said Karen Holmberg, the program's director.

Poets & Writers magazine is published by the nonprofit organization Poets & Writers, Inc., the nation's largest nonprofit literary organization serving poets, fiction and creative nonfiction writers.

The ranking comes after the Huffington Post named OSU's program one of the most underrated in the nation in 2011, and just months after Joyce Carol Oates received the inaugural Stone Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement in May 2012.

OSU was one of only two universities in the Pacific Northwest that ranked in the top 25.