Edited by: Eden Conrad and Lexi Hittle
BOB: If you could start college over, would you?
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Justin Forde, Content Creator
Jeri • Mar 12, 2025 at 11:49 am
I have an BFA and an MFA. Neither of which is worth a dime right now. If I had it to do over I would have probably minored in business administration or science. I would not have gone to graduate school for art. Don’t get me wrong, I learned so much there and grew tremendously as an artist. But it’s just not a skill set that translates to high dollar 9-5 work. Teaching gigs are harder to land than you think and most are non tenure. I applied to one adjunct position at KU, along with 8,000 OTHER APPLICANTS. Of which they had to select 3 to come to campus to interview. This is the norm in the arts when it comes to teaching. They are also the lowest paid on campus. I landed a few teaching jobs here and there and did really love it. I also enjoyed being creative and making art. But now a single parent of 3, the reality is I desperately need a 9-5 that pays over 40,000a year with health benefits and I’m pretty sure they’re not going to care if I can run a metal shop or fire a gas kiln. Plus my competition for those jobs are 20 somethings with the right degrees for those jobs.
So love the arts, get the degree if you want, but have a backup (or a different minor) that saying a dime a dozen..,…. They’re taking about fine arts degrees. But I’m stuck with a lot more than a dime in student loan debt.