When picking out classes for next semester, students now have a wider range of writing-based classes to choose from.
In the Critical Writing department, the number of non-fiction and journalistic writing classes has grown to 10 for the fall semester.
Students still won't be able to major in creative writing or print journalism, but at least the classes are a little more accessible than at other universities.
Entrance into Penn's creative-writing program is generally less competitive than those at other Ivy League schools. Harvard University, for example, turns away large numbers of students interested in its 11 creative-writing courses.
Princeton University's creative-writing courses are similarly competitive, and the program's Web site warns students trying to get into the six available courses - with multiple sections per class - that the application process is "chancy and subjective."
Penn Creative Writing director Gregory Djanikian attributes the University's greater accessibility to the larger number of courses the program offers.
Such accessibility may not be entirely positive, some students say.
College senior Benjamin Friedman, an English major with a concentration in creative writing, noted that, while writing samples were required for higher-level courses, it seems that anyone who turned in something "written and legible" was accepted into his writing courses.
"A lot of the writers who ended up in the [higher-level] classes were just dabbling," he said.
English professor Deborah Burnham, who teaches an introductory creative-writing course, says she typically sees two types of students in her class: "those who really are writers" and those that take the class as an elective.
"I think sometimes [the latter types] are surprised how hard it is, or how hard they end up working," she said.
Some highlights for next semester's booming program include an advanced screenwriting class taught by Penn alumnus and former NYPD Blue director Andy Polk or a class about art and popular culture taught by Rolling Stone music critic Anthony DeCurtis.
And as the number of available writing and non-fiction writing courses continues to grow, there are still no plans for creative writing or print journalism majors, both of which are offered at most other ivies.
"We have talked some about a journalism major," Ross said. "We'd have to do it in partnership with Annenberg," she said, noting the complicated bureaucratic nature of Penn's multiple schools.
Djanikian said that the program has always been affiliated with the English department, and that making it an independent major would require a lot of bureaucratic work.
While some students are hoping for a major dedicated to their particular interests, many are just positive about the courses offered.
"It's a great program," said College sophomore Andrew Tierney, who is majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing. "I've had universally positive experiences."
