NYU Gallatin would fit his/her specs – https://gallatin.nyu.edu/
also Hampshire-- which can be as rigorous or not rigorous as you wish. Top students go on to really change their particular niches of the world because Hampshire encourages divergent rather than convergent thinking. You have the other colleges to draw on to tailor your program. You can use the other colleges to engage in research, meet like-minded musicians or entrepreneurs or others who are trying new directions. The college motto is Non satis scire – to know is not enough. They want to ask the impertinent questions to test the age-old assumptions. This is not the school for everyone. Note in other threads on this forum how much grief Hampshire’s yurt has taken. (The yurt is the location of the Hampshire radio station but one dad took one look at the yurt and backed the car quickly out of the driveway before discovering that). But if you’re someone who is directed you can do extremely well here because there’s both the resources to assist you and the room around you, elbow room, so that you can move forward without restrictions. Hampshire has produced some amazing writers and other artists.
Also echoing others here –
Earlham
Bard for writing
Hamilton maybe for writing program
URochester – arty school, oft overlooked, open curriculum
Vassar – not competitive student body but has Ivy-level scores, excellent writing program, easy train ride to NYC–day-trips to NYC easy.
Wesleyan – wonderful creative atmosphere and writing
Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke Both of these schools are known for excellent academics with low competitiveness among the students. They foster cooperation. They are also parts of consortia and you can tailor your program accordingly. Mt. H is part of the same consortium as Hampshire – the Five College consortium. Brym Mawr is part of the Quaker Consortium with UPenn, Swarthmore, Haverford – both consortia have buses to take you around the schools.
Pitzer – also part of consortium and is the more free-wheeling member of the Claremont group.
Schools I would avoid for being too edgy-angsty-competitive for no obvious reason (IMHO)
Johns Hopkins
UChicago
Wellesley
Swarthmore
MIT
School that I would avoid because of party hardy atmosphere and somewhat to-my-mind rigid values – Sewanee. Yes the writing program but also yes it’s the university of the SOUTH, as in not just south of the Mason Dixon but the more traditional South, and it has some legacy of roles that, bravely, it’s been trying to shake off, but there’s a lot of partying in those woods. It’s not for me. Although the 13000 acre campus is stunning. Just make sure that you know what you’re getting into
Iowa is known for inventing the writing program that other schools use. FYI
Columbia is known for its writing program too
Princeton