<p>Twoinanddone- I am not anti-arts. I know theater majors who are making a living as voice-actors, teaching improv at a community center, and going on auditions for their big break. But they are making a living. I know a ceramics major who got a job as a bridal consultant at a big department store (she gets commissions, full benefits, and a store discount, not that she’s shopping) and still working her craft on the side.</p>
<p>A degree in the arts is a wonderful thing, but even if you have no debt- the number of people earning a living as a poet, a Shakespearean actor, or a set designer is very small. So even if you’ve got no debt, it seems to me there needs to be Plan B and C out there.</p>
<p>And there are unemployed engineers out there as well who ALSO need a reality check. Every hiccup in the economy sends thousands of engineers to the unemployment line (who remembers the tech bust in 2001?) Plan B as well. Take a finance class in addition to your engineering degree, so that you can self-study for the CFA if your industry contracts and you need to re-tool yourself. Find out ahead of time if you can get hired as a middle school science teacher without a Master’s in teaching (most private schools will) so that you’ve got a back up plan identified. Nobody remembers all the unemployed software engineers; the aerospace contraction in the 1990’s, the move to off-shore the good engineering jobs in the oil and gas industry a few decades ago.</p>
<p>No career is immune. Anyone who has debt needs a plan for paying it off. And piling another degree and more debt on top of it is not a plan. Heck- go work at that insurance company and THEY’ll pay for your MBA.</p>