Read the full comments & essays here, or choose among the offerings:

Wanda Coleman: It has been my unfortunate experience that, as a probable token representative of my race and/or gender, in today’s institutions the self-taught individual is more likely to be treated as an upstart and usurper--even as they are lauded for their achievements. <more>

George Held: A college degree was neither here nor there until the professionalization of poetry with the rise of creative writing programs, notably at Iowa, in the '50s. <more>

Philip Corwin: MFAs are a big circle jerk. They publish each other and praise each other. <more>

Gary Keenan: A degree is not all that essential for a poet. Poems are the documentation of a poet's powers. <more>

Elizabeth Doran (Poet Laureate, Jones Hill, Dorchester, MA): I am a poet without a degree. I did attend Lesley University and have often been tempted to lie and say I have a degree to look better on my resume so I understand the issue. <more>

Bob Holman: College degrees are immaterial to poetry, but Quincy, like so many poets, had to turn to academe to make a living. <more>

John Kulm: I once said to an audience, "Elitism of education is similar to racism." It created a huge debate. <more>