College costs

[Irishmom2]

I don't have an answer for how to pay for school. I only want to tell you not to squash her dreams if art is truly her calling. You would know more than the posters here whether your daughter truly has a talent for art or not. Do something you love and the money will follow. Do something you dislike, and you may have more money, but have a miserable life.

That being said, "Art school" is not the only way to pursue her goal if she is truly set on that as a career. While you should surely congratulate her on getting into her choice of school, she needs to be realistic about what you can afford. I agree that the cost of this education seems outrageous. Believe me, there are state schools that offer the same kind of art classes she will receive there, and for a lot less. It sounds like it is time for you to have the discussion with her about what people desire in life and what they are actually capable of affording. Honestly, no one is going to care what school she went to. Her art will either speak for itself or not.

I wish your daughter every success and hope for both of you that she will reconsider what she is asking of your family. May God bless you and guide you.

[Sarabande]

Originally Posted by Irishmom2

I don't have an answer for how to pay for school. I only want to tell you not to squash her dreams if art is truly her calling. You would know more than the posters here whether your daughter truly has a talent for art or not. Do something you love and the money will follow. Do something you dislike, and you may have more money, but have a miserable life.

This is very true. I know that the performing arts... music...was my calling after a time of fighting the constant "nagging" I received from God to trust Him and pursue full force. The OP's daughter should do a lot of prayer and know all the positives AND the negatives about pursuing a career in the arts. Money can follow but it can take much longer and often times a lot more sweat and tears than the "normal" kind of jobs most people pursue. So she really needs to LOVE it, know it is her calling and also be realistic about her abilities.

Originally Posted by Irishmom2

That being said, "Art school" is not the only way to pursue her goal if she is truly set on that as a career. While you should surely congratulate her on getting into her choice of school, she needs to be realistic about what you can afford. I agree that the cost of this education seems outrageous. Believe me, there are state schools that offer the same kind of art classes she will receive there, and for a lot less. It sounds like it is time for you to have the discussion with her about what people desire in life and what they are actually capable of affording. Honestly, no one is going to care what school she went to. Her art will either speak for itself or not.
.

So many of my music colleagues, people I know in other arts and myself say this all the time. You can go to the best art/music schools. It may get your foot in the door, but if you don't have real talent or if you don't work for it, no one is going to care where you went. It's what you put out there.

[FaithBuild18]

I agree with the majority here.

I also want to add that you really should have been saving your money all along for things like this. If not for college, then at least for a house and wedding. With how difficult it is right now for young couples to get a start on life, the biggest favor you could do for your daughter would be to buy her a wedding and a house when she finds the right guy. NICE houses are about the same price as a college education, and you're likely going to see a full return on a home investment (especially when its cheap to buy right now), AND you have the comfort of knowing your daughter can live without the temptation of sins of the flesh, being that she can marry younger and live with her husband under the same roof. I really, really, really wish my girlfriend's father would have done this for his daughter instead of sending her to college. It used to be a prominent custom in society for this to happen. Instead I am sitting here, not even engaged to her, been dating for 6 years, nowhere near able to afford a house (not getting married until we can live together), and being that we were both sent to the filthiest institution in the western world (i.e. COLLEGE), committed some pretty severe sins that have since been confessed but would surely make our parents disappointed and grandparents roll over in their graves if they knew. And all for what? So that both of us can follow some selfish ambition and "have careers?" What a joke. Culture needs to stop telling people to follow THEIR desires, to have careers for THEMSELVES, especially to young women. Not every household needs two working spouses. The reason to have a career is not for oneself, but for one's FAMILY. God knows life would better if children were actually raised by parents and not by daycare centers.

That said, since you seemed to have been caught off guard a little bit with this, you and her really have to talk about this. She really has to do some deep internal evaluation on the viability of this education. I'm not going to say, as others have implied, that a degree in art is automatically going to make her starving, but statistics aren't in her favor. I don't agree with the sentiment of "do what you love and the money will follow," because that simply isn't true. BUT, if you do what you are good at, then the money is more likely to follow. If she is the world's greatest artist, she will make more than anyone else on this forum. If she decides to be a birthday party clown, and is the best damn birthday party clown in the world, she could make some pretty good money (rich people have birthdays afterall).

I'm almost done with a degree that is costing my parents around $200k in total. Right now I'm trying to get into dental school. I'm sweating bullets every waking moment and am beyond stressed because if I don't get in, my degree has been a complete waste, and I will have virtually nothing to show for it. If I do get in, the payoff will be enormous, but life would have been a lot simpler had I just gotten a normal job or went to a trade school or something like that, and if I could have been married by this point in my life.

[Mrs Sally]

She should consider programs at other schools. Even with the income you say you have, you obviously do not see a clear path to pay this expense directly. We were in a similar situation, and our daughter considered all her options and will be attending an in-state school that offered a scholarship. This is a very good school with an excellent program; however, it is not as nationally well-known as other schools she applied to. Name-recognition is not everything though - especially if you can't complete a program because of expense.

In your daughter's case, the school she attends will not matter as much as her porfolio. That is one of the advantages of going into the arts.

In my daughter's case, the program she completes will be very important for her careeer. Fortunately, even though the school she's going to doesn't have national recognition, it is well-known regionally. And more importantly, we will be able to afford it, especially with her scholarship and work-study money. Completing school with little to no debt will be a great gift when she graduates and starts looking for work!

[ProVobis]

Originally Posted by jeannetherese

Actuall, it would be 172,000 over 4 years. (43K x4). 86K over 2. Still a considerable sum to be sure.

Have you looked into the possibility of picking up some freshman and sophomore credits at a local junior college and then transferring to the university in the junior year?

The other idea is to delay college until you or she find an employer willing to finance night school or something. My employer of a few years ago picked up 80% of my grad school fees.

[Julian0404]

You inform your daughter that she is responsible for 50% of the cost of any college, program or curriculum she selects. You pay half - she pays half. She signs all loan " documents" along with you, so if she fails to pay the outcome rest on her as well as you.

However, if from your experience, you know her to be unreliable then it is off to community college on "your dime" and the last two years on her dime.

You simply treat her to "adulthood" by discussing with her the economics with which you exist, with which you have fed her these many years, and in which she must now graft to become the adult the nation needs her to be.

Failing that - you drive her down to the recruiting station - and pick her up in 3 years, when she returns from "basic training adulthood".

[TheRealJuliane]

Originally Posted by FaithBuild18

I agree with the majority here.

I also want to add that you really should have been saving your money all along for things like this. If not for college, then at least for a house and wedding. With how difficult it is right now for young couples to get a start on life, the biggest favor you could do for your daughter would be to buy her a wedding and a house when she finds the right guy. NICE houses are about the same price as a college education, and you're likely going to see a full return on a home investment (especially when its cheap to buy right now), AND you have the comfort of knowing your daughter can live without the temptation of sins of the flesh, being that she can marry younger and live with her husband under the same roof. I really, really, really wish my girlfriend's father would have done this for his daughter instead of sending her to college. It used to be a prominent custom in society for this to happen. Instead I am sitting here, not even engaged to her, been dating for 6 years, nowhere near able to afford a house (not getting married until we can live together), and being that we were both sent to the filthiest institution in the western world (i.e. COLLEGE), committed some pretty severe sins that have since been confessed but would surely make our parents disappointed and grandparents roll over in their graves if they knew. And all for what? So that both of us can follow some selfish ambition and "have careers?" What a joke. Culture needs to stop telling people to follow THEIR desires, to have careers for THEMSELVES, especially to young women. Not every household needs two working spouses. The reason to have a career is not for oneself, but for one's FAMILY. God knows life would better if children were actually raised by parents and not by daycare centers.

That said, since you seemed to have been caught off guard a little bit with this, you and her really have to talk about this. She really has to do some deep internal evaluation on the viability of this education. I'm not going to say, as others have implied, that a degree in art is automatically going to make her starving, but statistics aren't in her favor. I don't agree with the sentiment of "do what you love and the money will follow," because that simply isn't true. BUT, if you do what you are good at, then the money is more likely to follow. If she is the world's greatest artist, she will make more than anyone else on this forum. If she decides to be a birthday party clown, and is the best damn birthday party clown in the world, she could make some pretty good money (rich people have birthdays afterall).

I'm almost done with a degree that is costing my parents around $200k in total. Right now I'm trying to get into dental school. I'm sweating bullets every waking moment and am beyond stressed because if I don't get in, my degree has been a complete waste, and I will have virtually nothing to show for it. If I do get in, the payoff will be enormous, but life would have been a lot simpler had I just gotten a normal job or went to a trade school or something like that, and if I could have been married by this point in my life.

You've got a lot of wisdom for one so young.

[Jester Catholic]

Don't you think art photography could be learned from herself like me, I always take
pictures at something and learned to mixed the effects and the angle positioning even I
am not a professional photographer I always learned from the picture I took from different
things and over the years I have become a expert too but not that big

Now looking at back at your Daughter your daughter wants photography but photography
could be learned without teachers just books would be fine and the manuals of the camera
too and talk to your daughter she can be an paint artist or other else reason with her the
PRICE of the art school she is entering.


HOPE THIS HELPS!

[PaulinVA]

My daughter loved her art classes in high school. She is going to get a degree in chemistry. My son loves sports and wants to be an agent or other affiliated trade. He is getting a degree in accounting.

There is what you like, and there is what will put food on the the table. You can try for the first after you have taken care of the second.

SCAD tries to convince people that they have all of the contacts to the "high end" jobs in photo, video games, etc. Sure. From what I understand, if they don't offer a scholarship of at least half of the tuition, you really aren't that good. Sorry.

[Viki63]

My son got a fine arts degree from Carleton College; he got a 20K a year scholarship and I paid $4000 a year in addition. He enjoys art but has been working as manager and general handyman at a resort for several years. He also took out some loans, and paying them off was difficult.
I suggest this book: Debt-Free U. It also recommends going to a local community college for the first 2 years, to get the classes that are required out of the way at a lower cost.

[Sarabande]

Originally Posted by Viki63

I suggest this book: Debt-Free U. It also recommends going to a local community college for the first 2 years, to get the classes that are required out of the way at a lower cost.

I don't know how true it is across the board in other states and universities/colleges, but sometimes this does not always work. At the university I attended, it often did not accept the credits for the pre-rec classes from community colleges or other universities. Many of my classmates who went this route to save money were very surprised and upset that they had to take the same courses over again, graduate later and spend more money in the long run. I discovered from other friends of mine who attended different universities that this was the same policy.

The one thing that seemed to be unique at my university was that if you wanted to take a couple summer courses at a local college/university near where you live to speed up graduation, it did not accept the credits if the col/uni was within a certain radius from the school. I found this out when I had wanted to take some pre-rec courses at my local university and called about how to get the credits transferred if I took the classes.

So, I would suggest that if a student was planning on going on the community college route first to check with the university they plan on attending if their pre-rec course-work would be accepted and transferred. Otherwise, you'll be spending more money than you would have if you attended the university from the freshman year.

[PaulinVA]

To transfer credits from a community college, get an AA degree.

The entire degree transfers with all of the credits. The university might make you take an individual class again for your major, but you won't lose credits.

[Bklynguy]

Originally Posted by Allegra

I think you should discourage her from attending that school unless she can obtain some other grants. Please, PLEASE do NOT counsel your daughter to take $43G a year in student loans to pay for art school! Look for a more reasonable alternative.

[Bklynguy]

Originally Posted by rdscheirer

Help please- daughter just got accepted to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) for art photograhphy etc. It's one of the best known colleges for the artsy crowd, I'm a scientist. They do teach business to them so the graduates have some idea how to manage money. My wife and I make about 100,000 a year-school costs 50,000 a year -she got a 7,000 schalarship. how do we come up with the 43,000 each year?

If she takes out a loan for the $43K per year, that is $172K for four years PLUS interest. I would not advise her to do this--she will think it is great because she is on an emotional high of getting accepted to the school of her dreams. However, reality will set in in a bad way when she graduates and can't find a place of her own because she is paying $1500-2000 a month in loan payments.

I would try to convince her to start the first two years at a community school, to get a job and work her way through school part time, a combination of the two, or go to a different school altogether. Under no circumstance would I allow her to take out that much in student loans. This will dramatically affect her life for YEARS after graduating.

[BobCatholic]

Remember, student loans are slavery. This is $172,000 worth of slavery.