- Does the program have a distinct bias toward a certain kind of writing?
- Is the staff relatively diverse?
- What Kind of Funding Is Available? When considering writing programs, money should be an issue. Are fellowships provided? If so, are they provided across the board, or only to a select few? Do you have to reapply each year, or is the funding assured? If students have to compete with each other for resources, this tension is bound to overflow into the workshops. And if professors have a say in who receives funding from year to year, students, including yourself, will be tempted to change their style to fit the tastes of these decision-makers. Conversely, if you work well with competition, then obviously this shouldn't be a consideration.
Don't choose a school with only very traditional writers if you're interested in experimental fiction, for instance. Are there professors on staff whose writing you admire? Though a good program will give you the opportunity to work with visiting writers, you'll have to write your thesis with a full-time faculty member, and you want to be sure that there is someone on staff with whom you could work. Also be aware that faculty play a role in choosing the other students, so their tastes will be reflected somewhat in your fellow students. You don't want to find that your style conflicts with that of your workshops -- you might be tempted to subtly censor your writing to fit in better.
Does the faculty include women, people of color, gay and straight writers? What about the visiting professors? If you don't see your own background reflected in the people who generally teach the writing classes, look elsewhere. In this day and age, there's no excuse for a department not to be diverse, and you have choices. A lack of diversity can also be a sign that either the faculty is not forward-thinking, or that someone on staff is wielding a disproportionate level of power in these kinds of decisions.