Kids.......

[nightfighter]

My recent trip to Savannah was to find out if there was any financial aid available, so that my daughter might continue to attend SCAD beyond this, her freshman year. Sadly, there was not. It is a $52k school that offered 2100.00 in aid. While their president earns $2 million.... I am not in a position to take those loans. nor am I willing to see her saddled with such massive debt for an art degree.
Upon reflecting a few days after returning home, I told my daughter that her days there may well be numbered, and be prepared to formulate another plan to pursue her art.
Today, she has brought to my attention her wish to travel and that maybe she could attend a school in South Africa...... And I thought she was "getting" what the message was....... South Africa... are you kidding me? $2k for a flight, need to be sponsored into the country, with a financial guarantee that you will not occupy their "welfare equivalent", and probably can't work there as a student anyway. Then there is the culture of very rich or very poor with no middle class. Doesn't even know the word aparthied.... Were we this naive and clueless at 19? I won't even go into her twin brother at this time.......

[Piscator]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

Were we this naive and clueless at 19?

Yup, and we knew it all too!!!!!

That stinks. I have a 5, 3 and 1 year old and saving for college as we speak. Who knows what it will cost when they are 18 (I don't want to know)

Did you tell the school she will need to drop out due to cost? They might be able to find something.

I hear UMass Dartmouth has a great Art Program. Take a visit with her, maybe she will have a change of heart. You can sit down with her and run the financial numbers. Maybe promise her a trip to South Africa upon graduating from a less expensive school????

uhhh, and you could remind her what her Wedding will probably set you back too in a few years (not that she will understand)

Good Luck!

[nightfighter]

She was accepted at MassArt, so that is where I am steering the conversation. It would be around 12k if she commuted. But she is not biting.... Here's a sample of her work, a self portrait that she claims was about 80% done. Think I have my hands full....

[Clammer]

Its ALLLLLLLLLLLL your fault .

If she didn,t see you with all the chnages of clothes & the other Y$((!@ #^&#^&#^&#^& she wouldn,t be like that

[nightfighter]

I can always count on you, Mike..... but you need to get a more current view of my reality than your 12 year old recollections.....

[Sea Dangles]

GW for sale?
jk she seems to have talent.

My oldest is 15 with 2 behind him,we have college funds but with those prices I may have to get a job.
jk again.

The smart start would have been at 12,000 and put in 2 years and transfer to the big $ school for the degree if they took her credits.

[nightfighter]

[QUOTE=Sea Dangles;937158]GW for sale? Don't think I haven't considered it...
jk she seems to have talent.

My oldest is 15 with 2 behind him,we have college funds but with those prices I may have to get a job.
jk again.

The smart start would have been at 12,000 and put in 2 years and transfer to the big $ school for the degree if they took her credits.That would have been the case if my ex had cared to consult with me.[/QUOTE]

[Piscator]

Ok, toss in the towel. Pay the 52k a year to make sure she doesn't go to South Africa!!!!
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[redlite]

Ross,
Def look at U-Mass Dartmouth. School has come a long way and grown since my wife and I greduated in 2000, Much bigger and more to offer. Excellent art programs. Several of my frat brothers greduated with various art degrees and are doin very well, especially the one that makes chainsaw sculptures. Tuition I think is less than Mass Fart and renta housing down here is pretty dirt cheap (New Beige or Fall Reeva, 10-15 min commutes)
0r She can come live with us as we r 4 miles down the the street.....and you can "visit" her and fish. ...........

[JohnR]

My son wants to do art. I want to encourage him to do what he loves. Then I take him through Walmart and tell him he'll be lucky if this is where he can shop with an art degree. I don't want to seem like I'm pi$$ing on starving artists but I would like to see him not being starving in art, and me paying for it.

Originally Posted by nightfighter

I can always count on you, Mike..... but you need to get a more current view of my reality than your 12 year old recollections.....

But it was funny, no?

[Nebe]

Not all artists are starving
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Sea Dangles]

Nebe seems well fed.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Nebe

Not all artists are starving
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I was going to call you out then thought wait but you look more like an IT guy than an artist

[Nebe]

im just saying its possible to survive in an arts career, but it isnt easy.

[spence]

Originally Posted by JohnR

My son wants to do art. I want to encourage him to do what he loves. Then I take him through Walmart and tell him he'll be lucky if this is where he can shop with an art degree. I don't want to seem like I'm pi$$ing on starving artists but I would like to see him not being starving in art, and me paying for it.

I have a BFA

Remember that to want to study art doesn't necessarily mean you're going to make a living from it. Odds are he'll find out in the first few years if that's what he really wants to do by picking a specialty, or pivot to something related where the creativity can be used in a more predictable manner.

Sometimes you just have to learn by doing. I certainly didn't have my path plotted at 18.

-spence

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by Nebe

Not all artists are starving
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but it sure seems that almost every person I know that went to art school, and that education is all they have, is either collecting a check from Uncle Scam or waiting tables. For the majority of people, an art degree is as useful as a psychology, philosophy or many of the other liberal arts degrees. Of the people I know (graduated college within the last 10 years), almost none of them with the above mentioned degrees are working in their field *unless* they went back to school for a second degree or a Masters in some specialty.

Today, most liberal arts degrees are merely stepping stones to a graduate program or other specialized training. With all the talk about outrageous student debt lately, people need to realized that terrible financial decisions are what are causing that debt, just like with mortgages. No one is forcing these kids to go to $50k/year schools when there are options that are just as good close to home.

I'm currently sitting on a pile of school debt because I went to a school that was more expensive than I should have. It's no one's fault but my own and now I'm paying for it.

[Nebe]

Maybe their art sucked?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by Nebe

Maybe their art sucked?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

That's the kicker, huh?

My hope is to be gainfully employed at a school before A goes to college... then he is either going there for free/cheap OR at least starting there for GEN-eds and such.... of course I need to find a school that needs a half-assed geologist first....


Oh, and thanks for beating me to the joke Dangles... Nebe doesn't starve b/c Phills and Brickleys are cheap

[PRBuzz]

Arranging for your kid's future (I'm sure those of you with daughters can put the proper spin on this).

[PRBuzz]

More good news to the young(er) SB members still looking forward to raising a family! Glad I am well past that phase of my life.

The government’s most recent annual report reveals a middle-income family with a child born in 2010 can expect to spend roughly $227,000 for food, shelter and other expenses necessary to raise that child — $287,000 when you factor in projected inflation.

And, no, the bill does not include the cost of college or anything related to the pregnancy and delivery.

[Piscator]

Originally Posted by PRBuzz

More good news to the young(er) SB members still looking forward to raising a family! Glad I am well past that phase of my life.

The government’s most recent annual report reveals a middle-income family with a child born in 2010 can expect to spend roughly $227,000 for food, shelter and other expenses necessary to raise that child — $287,000 when you factor in projected inflation.

And, no, the bill does not include the cost of college or anything related to the pregnancy and delivery.

Hey Phil, with 3 kids 5 years and under, thanks for making my day..............no more for me!

[Rockport24]

I know that just killed my spirits!

I agree that $52K/yr for an art degree is kind of insane. Especially in this economy.

Nebe is an exception, but also in an extremely specialized field and he has obviously carved out a great niche for himself.

Ross - almost every school has a study abroad program offered in the junior year, that might be a good incentive for her to go to Mass Art or UMASS Dartmouth, both of which are good schools. One of my regrets for college was not doing that, but the reason I didn't was because I went to such a freakin' expensive school I couldn't afford it!

[gf2020]

I flew out to Arizona this past weekend to attend my youngest cousin's graduation from Embry-Riddle Aeronatical University. They don't offer a degree in Art.

34 of the 269 graduates were under ROTC (17 Army, 14 Air Force, 3 Marine Corps) and all were commissioned as second lieutenants. My cousin starts a job with Cape Air in Hyannis next week. I have no idea what my aunt & uncle paid to send him to college, however he did tell me that he has $20K in loans to repay, which seems reasonable.

My twin boys, who are freshman in high school, are already looking at Bunker Hill Community College!

[The Dad Fisherman]

My son is going to Salem State for Computer Science...only going to cost him between $20-$30k in loans for the 4 years....that total is about the same as a new car.....

[Jenn]

Do you think it is a different generation thing or upbringing?

20 years ago I decided I could not afford to go the college (not that school was my strong point either) because I could not afford it so I worked three jobs. I never even thought of asking my folks for money to go to college, hell I knew they didnt have it either!

Someone mentioned the wedding....my husband and I paid for that too. Parents gave us monetary wedding gifts which we used toward some of it but it was never expected that they should pay.

Now back to the school thing I understand I could possibily be making twice what I do now but at the same time I did not start my adult life with $200,000 in student loans, a $35,000 car payment and the HOPE that I could find a good paying job in my field, nor did I set my parents or myself back tens of thousands to parade myself around on my wedding day!

I have no idea how the next generation does it! they are now putting themselves (or put their parents) a quarter million in debt before they have even started to think about buying a house (if of course they want to live the american dream)! I just dont get it....unless your overpriced degree guarantees (yeah right) a job with some serious jingle it will take forever for this generation to get on their feet OR there parents will literally pay the price by putting their own financial well being at risk.

[GregW]

Ross,

You might want to look at a state school.
I throw away a ton of mailings that get sent to me for scholarships due to my grades and volunteer work. It seems like they give out more scholarships.

[JohnnySaxatilis]

CCCC for the kid, dirt cheap, close to home, finishing my 4 year business degree through umass tranfer program. Can't beat it with a stick

[Swimmer]

For $52,000.00 a year you can go to Harvard and be a zero, but get out with thier degree and get a job paying $250,000.00 a year because of where you went to school, not if you are qualified for anything.

Ross I take it the ex-wife doesn't chip in at all?

NEBE, where did you go to school?

[GattaFish]

Ross.... Your def in a pinch,,,, Might be time to sit down with her and talk to her about what is financially possible....

The talk my dad gave me before I went to college in Florida was " Tom, I will be able to help you much more financially if you don't buy a rice rocket and concentrate on your studies while your away at college" .... Took me 2 seconds to do the math on that one even at such a young age......

So the example.... (name) I would be able to help you so much more if you (insert what you think her best path is here)

[gf2020]

Originally Posted by Swimmer

For $52,000.00 a year you can go to Harvard and be a zero, but get out with thier degree and get a job paying $250,000.00 a year because of where you went to school, not if you are qualified for anything.

Please show me the evidence to support this statement. My wife's best friend's oldest son graduates from Harvard in a couple weeks. He did not pay $52,000 per year and he is not making $250,000 a year in the biotech job he is starting this summer.

For what it's worth, Harvard is pretty affordable - if you can get in. They instituted a new tuition plan 4 or 5 years ago where families pay annual tuition, room and board of 10% of gross earnings for those earning between $120,000 and $180,000 per year, for example.