$78,000 of Debt for a Harvard Theater Degree

College Majors Theater/Drama Majors
1

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/theater/harvard-graduate-theater-debt.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

I realize this is the undergraduate forum for college theater programs, but I thought this article was worth posting in this forum as a cautionary tale. An actor cannot realistically hope to pursue a career in theater, film or TV with this kind of debt from a college theater program – be it undergraduate or graduate.

Full Disclosure: I’ve been a working NYC actor and a member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA for more than 40 years. I attended Boston University’s undergraduate acting program from 1973 to 1977 ($5,000 tuition per year, $20,000 for 4 years). I was easily making back the cost of my tuition five years out of college from my acting carer. That just doesn’t happen today when tuition is upwards of $50K per year, $200K for 4 years. Granted, I was lucky enough to have parents that could afford to pay the entire cost of my tuition, thereby allowing me to pursue a career in the arts without the burden of debt. If you don’t have wealthy parents today who can bankroll your tuition, I don’t recommend taking on this kind of debt for an expensive theater degree with enormous loans to pay back upon graduation. It’s a lose-lose situation for most theater graduates.

2

$78,000 is a LOT of debt for a graduate with a degree in computer science or engineering who can find a guaranteed $100,000 per year job right out of school. This is a reasonable debt for someone graduating from medical school. For anyone else this is ruinous.

Thanks for posting this.

3

More evidence that college tuition is too damn high. Anyone who says it’s worth $65k+ per year is delusional.

4

Wow, scary.

Somebody posted a thread awhile back about how he/she noticed that many actors booking pilots had acting backgrounds and/or some sort of degree in theater (or a related field); hence, an education in that field is arguably a good idea (it was a great thread actually). To me it still seems risky to take on very much debt at all if you’re serious about acting. It’s so feast or famine-ish, and debt can limit your options.

5

It’s actually a Harvard Extension Theater degree, which is, I think, why the program isn’t covered by financial aid.

6

The misleading thing about the article is that it doesn’t take into account federal loan repayment options. I’m actually not sure how Harvard Extension School works, and it may be wonky; most degree granting grad schools, however, participate in federal loan programs that will a) adjust the loan repayment based on income (for instance, PAYE) and b) forgive the loan entirely after 20 years. I’m NOT advocating huge loans, but I am advocating full disclosure and honesty about options.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans

7

These loans are quite old, more than 12 years and may not be eligible for the loan repayment plans of today. Most of the Paye, RePaye, IBR, etc. were only for loans taken out after 2008. They also might be private loans.

The loan is forgiven if all payments are made on time for 20-25 years, but any debt forgiven is taxed as regular income. That could be a huge tax bill in one year if $30k is forgiven, so instead of owing the Dept of Educ you owe the IRS at a nice 18% interest rather than 4-5%. Many people don’t want to slow down repayment, even if they can, because they do want to make progress on that loan reduction. It’s affecting income to debt ratio, the ability to buy a house, the ability to start a business.

8

The article is very specific to this program which is a Harvard MFA degree, it is a program affiliated with the Harvard Extension school. While the intent of this program may have been at some point and probably still the goal to become a Harvard MFA program that is not and has never been the program. Yes Diane Paulus is a well-known Director (one of D’s friends has been an assistant training with her for several productions) but being a busy well-known Director and administering a professional training program are too entirely different things. The young woman my daughter knows by the way is 100% supported by her parents for rent, living expenses, etc allowing her to pursue this career path 5 years after graduating from college.

9

Until this year, students who completed the graduate acting program at Harvard/ART received a degree from Moscow Art Theater (a well-respected theater program founded in 1898 by Stanislavski). In 2017 students graduating students received a certificate from the Harvard Extension school. Now admissions to ART are frozen.

The ART program has had a good reputation in the academic acting world as does the Moscow Art Theater. My D applied and was accepted a few years ago, but went elsewhere. She tells me that some graduate MFA acting programs,e.g., Yale, provide full funding for students they accept. Others, like NYU, provide very little and many students take out big loans.

10

Forgot to mention that the MFA acting students do a semester in Moscow and some of the profs from there teach classes in the US program.

11

While that’s true, the reason I posted the article is that it is a cautionary tale for all actors graduating college with that kind of debt load to service. Here’a another, more general, blog article on the topic: http://www.magnifymoney.com/blog/pay-down-my-debt/reality-six-figure-debt-actors-salary/

12

In terms of this article and the masters prgogram that was offered through the Harvard Extension School… I do not believe that masters was an MFA, if I am reading correctly, rather a Master of Liberal Arts. If that is the case, that is not a “terminal degree” for university teaching. So, even if those students wanted to teach at many/ most universities they would have to pursue further schooling. Ugh… if that is the case.

I believe it was an MFA program when affiliated with Moscow Art Theatre, who granted the MFA. Before that, I think it may have been a certificate program. I remember looking at the ART program in 2000, when I was looking at grad programs, and I think the reason I did not apply was because I would not have an MFA degree upon completion, and that was important to me.

Acording to the article years ago Robert Brustein tried to work with Harvard to grant the MFA, but was met with, “We don’t give degrees in butchery, so why would we give one in acting?”

Diane Paulus has also expressed a desire for a funded Harvard MFA degree, but since this is not something Harvard has ever done it is not a simple process.

As @Bromfield2 mentions some MFA programs are fully or partially funded. Yale moved to a fully funded (or close to it) model for their MFA programs a number of years ago. Many URTA schools are also fully funded. I went to Penn State, fully funded, plus an assistantship stipend. This included a funded summer study abroad in London, tuition, travel, housing abroad in a flat, and some theatre performances all funded.

There are options for obtaining an MFA without going into massive debt. But, like undergraduate school, it is all about choices… What can you afford? What programs will provide the match of training, educational environment, networking, and opportunities within what you can afford.

As is mentioned in both articles @gibby posted, massive debt to pay off for the degree may lead to a situation where it is very difficult for the student carrying that debt to have the financial freedom to pursue all artistic opportunities post graduation.