Boston Gal's Open Wallet

I'll be really curious to see what others think about this article. I am all about risk vs. reward. In the case of this young woman this may very well pay off, I don't know enough about the economics of that industry. I have a cousin who incurred $120,000 of debt to get a degree at a private college to become an art teacher(and study abround in Rome). A wonderful profession, but one that can be earned much less at a state university. The economics made no sense in her case and she ignored all of the family's warnings. Now she is out of school, teaching part time(art teaching jobs are VERY hard to get) and unable to fufill her student loan obligation.

 

My nephew was in a similar position (chasing the dream) with athletics. He was good enough to get a partial scholarship offer (they are all partial offers in baseball) to play for a pretty elite, private, northeastern college in NCAA Div I. His freshman year, he decided to major in engineering and minor in art. By spring of his freshman year, he had realized how hard engineering was and decided to major in art.

During his sophomore year, he hurt his shoulder and he never fulfilled his potential - even though he did pitch for all four years. The pro scouts didn't come knocking, though - not by a long shot.

He graduated with a degree in art and is now a personal trainer. I am not knocking being a personal trainer (heck, the kid probably makes more than I do in higher ed!), but I don't see that as something that required a four-year degree at $40k to achieve.

We don't discuss finances, but I do wonder about his ability to pay his student loans. He lives in an expensive area - and I know that my brother doesn't have the coin to foot the bill.

I wonder if he would have been able to pursue engineering had he not been chasing his ballplayer dreams??

 

I turned down ivy league and fancy art school for undergrad since they run 30K a year and I couldn't imagine starting off with a liberal arts or painting degree and a 120K rock around my neck. Instead a got a good state undergrad degree for 6K a year, which I split with my parents and finished without debt. Then I spent 40K on my fancy artschool master's. I've found that the contacts and education were "worth it" at that level, but one does have to balance the ability of paying it back while struggling in the beginning of your career. There's no time for auditions or studio practice if the loan payment is that high.

 

Wow, that article was painful for me to read because I was married to someone in the arts, who had what I thought was a high student loan burden. I don't know if a talented, motivated 18 year old has enough information to understand the ramifications of such a decision. It's hard when you are told by your teacher(s) that you are one of the ones who can "make it", and then there's the greater culture of "student loans are a good kind of debt". I really, really, really wonder about these institutions who are let students, who are pursuing artistic careers, accumulate that kind of debt. That amount of debt is not good for anyone, but it's extra hard for an artist for whom time is a greater burden.

Gah. This article hit home.