<p>I've recently been accepted into UCLA's graduate animation program and I was pretty set on going. I've been wanting this for a long time and I thought, I have the rest of my life to pay it back. I mean they only take about 12 students a year! But then I got my estimated aid statement and I'm starting to wonder if it's worth the amount of debt I'm going have in the end. Here are the facts:</p>
<p>I am from Texas so I will have to pay out-of-state tuition for the first year (unless a miracle happens). I haven't been able to find any leads on how I can get this waived. </p>
<p>My total estimated cost for tuition, living expenses, and supplies is going to be roughly $50,000 for 2009-2010.</p>
<p>I have $28,000 left to pay in student loans from undergraduate school.</p>
<p>So far that's $78,000 without interest! And that is just the first year of graduate school! Once I establish residency, the tuition will go down about $15,000.</p>
<p>I just don't know if a can do it. The animation programs in Texas are not great and it makes sense to be where the industry is in California. Plus, if I decide to go to, say A&M's program, I will have to wait a whole year to do the application process and there is no guarantee I will be accepted.</p>
<p>Everyone's telling me this is a chance of a lifetime but it could go terribly wrong for me financially. There's a chance I won't get a job out of school. There's a chance the job I get won't help me slay my debt. Is this amount of debt normal? Should I rethink my plan? I'm still waiting to here back from fellowships so there is still hope.</p>
<p>UCLA and the Design | Media Arts department offer several kinds of financial support to graduate students, including fellowships, assistantships, loans, and work-study employment. Merit-based financial support is available in the form of fellowships, teaching and research assistantships, and nonresident tuition waivers. Fellowships, which are gift moneys designed to reward and promote academic and artistic achievement, are awarded primarily to incoming students. Teaching assistantships are awarded quarterly to all eligible continuing M.F.A. students. Teaching assistantships offer significant financial support by providing a monthly work stipend and by covering all quarterly tuition and fees with the exception of nonresident tuition expenses. Nonresident tuition waivers are offered to the most outstanding eligible new and continuing students.</p>
<p>Entering students may apply for fellowships in conjunction with their admissions applications. Awards are determined by department faculty and in some cases by the UCLA Graduate Division. Factors considered include creative work, general potential, and financial need. Effort is made to distribute awards among all principal areas of study in the department.</p>
<p>Need-based assistance is available to those who qualify. The UCLA Financial Aid Office calculates need according to the student’s financial resources. For graduate students, needbased financial aid is awarded only in the form of loans and work-study.</p>
<p>So I’d pursue all avenues of financial aid they offer, if you haven’t already.</p>
<p>Also, how much of the 50K is tuition, and how much is living expenses? You can probably live pretty cheaply if you share an apartment with a couple others.</p>
<p>Well, you could ask to defer admission for a year and hang out in California to achieve residency status AND get a job to save some money. I do not know if they would defer your admission, however, but you could be candid and explain your situation.</p>
<p>Graduate debt is different than undergrad debt. I am fiscally conservative, but even I can see that your situation is a little different in the field, the career, and so on. Frankly, the worst that could happen (aside from the usual catastrophes) is that you’d have an MFA and wind up in an entry level position for a long time and have to live frugally to pay off the student loan debt. BUT if this is what you love and it is your dream, I would encourage you to make it happen but to try to get that nonresident tuition waived or achieve residency.</p>
<p>Thanks so far, this is encouraging. I have pursued the fellowships with my application for admission and I did also ask to be considered for teaching/research assistantships with this application. I’m guessing they will look at my situation before considering me for the non-resident tuition waiver. I’m on the verge of calling the financial aid office to plead with them on that matter.</p>
<p>According to my estimated aid they are allocating $20,000 for living expenses. Rent in this area (including university housing) ranges from $970 - $1600 a month. I have a source in the program that has given me help on finding a roommate in the program but I haven’t pursued it yet since it’s still early.</p>
<p>20K for living expenses (room/board/miscellaneous) leaves you a lot of wiggle room, even in LA. Our son is finishing up his UCLA undergrad, sharing an apartment in Westwood blocks from campus with some other college kids. He’s able to do room/board/miscellaneous for under 1K per month.</p>
<p>So if you can hook up with the right roomates, and don’t mind living frugally, you can shave perhaps 10K off the COA estimate right there.</p>
<p>And you may not need a car at UCLA-- might save some there.</p>
<p>Good question hmom5. I figured it was about $40k…which is what I’m making now in the advertising job I got right out of college. From what I’ve seen it’s about 35-50k out of college.</p>
<p>Obviously, there’s some debate about starting salary though. The Pixar website doesn’t give a straight answer and there’s a wide range of numbers on many of the sites I looked at. I have a feeling it depends on the studio, type of work, contract negotiation, economy, etc. </p>
<p>I also read that many animators suffer long stretches of unemployment. However, in this regard, it’s probably the same as advertising and graphic design. When the economy is bad, layoffs happen in these industries. Many of my unemployed friends in advertising are freelancing for alright money.</p>
<p>I know you ask because the thread is about debt, but I don’t think anyone says “I want to be an animator…for the money.” Starting salary isn’t the reason I want to go to UCLA. It has one of the leading animation programs in the world and it’s a great opportunity, but graduating from UCLA doesn’t guarantee I will have any of these starting salaries. My portfolio will do that and I feel UCLA will prepare me as a filmmaker and as an animator. I just don’t want to be confused with someone who is going out of their financial limits to attend a school because the name will get them ahead.</p>
<p>sblake7 — I thought so too. With that 10k and the 15k out-of-state tuition shaved off, the numbers are more inviting. I really need to get on the phone with someone about the out-of-state tuition…maybe Governor Schwarzenegger will sympathize with my situation.</p>
<p>I know that with undergrads, they’re pretty strict with the in-state residency requirement, and just living in LA and going to UCLA for a year doesn’t make an out-of-stater an in-state resident. Undergrads remain tied to their parents’ state of residence.</p>
<p>But with older, and perhaps independent (?) students, they may have different requirements. Don’t know-- others on this board have addressed this before, but something for you to flesh out.</p>
<p>As an independent there’s a list of things I can do to prove that i want to make California my home. Get a state drivers license, change my address, register to vote, etc. You are under extreme scrutiny though. The feeling I got from the website is that every trip out of the state is questioned and even more so when classes are not in session. If I go, I will need to do all of this as soon as I arrive, then hopefully in about twelve months, I won’t have to pay the out-of-state tuition.</p>
<p>However, I don’t want to pay it at all…not even during those first 12 months. I’ll be looking into this more.</p>
<p>I bring up the salary issue because I think the only rational way to look at the debt decision is to look at how much it’s going to hurt when you graduate based on a conservative estimate of earnings.</p>
<p>Even if you take the high end of this, $50K, debt of $100K would be pretty tough to pay off and live even modestly. If this were an MBA program and you were looking at $120K starting salaries, it wouldn’t be so bad.</p>
<p>But I’m afraid in this scenario you could well end up one of the people who can’t buy a home, drive an old car and have little disposable income for a long time. And if periods of unemployment are typical, it could be crippling to have huge debt. So it’s probably not a great idea unless you can do this and come out with total debt under $50K which many would say is still a lot.</p>
<p>Normally I would encourage you to look at cheaper schools, but . . . animation, boy. I think in this field making connections and going to a topnotch school will be important and pay off in the long run. I usually say follow the money, but in this case I say follow your dream!</p>
<p>Seems like you’ve got alot of potential and can lessen the debt impact with careful planning. How much can you save in your current job this year? Can you work enough while you’re in school next year to at least cover living expenses? When do you find out about the TA position? </p>
<p>I would start by taking a hard look at what’s in the COA, trimming it to a realistic level. Then make a careful budget and start saving wherever you can. Cast a wide net and try to get some contacts in LA through friends/professors/business associates - it may yield up a room, a job, or a future career!</p>
<p>if you can manage to defer your admission for a year that would be your best bet i think</p>
<p>and then for the year you have before your admission you can move to CA and get a job to make some money that would lessen your debt (plus when you did enroll you would be in-state)</p>
<p>I agree that making it known you want to rent a room for cheap might be a great way to save money; a professor might have an extra room to rent to a grad student or you could live a bit farther from campus and take the bus. You could also get a part time job of sorts on campus or nearby.</p>
<p>Honestly, if this is what you love, I say, make it happen. It might not be worth 100K in debt after all is said and done, but a measured degree of risk might be worth it.</p>
<p>I agree with the person who suggested not owning a car (parking is awful on the campus anyway); this will also save on car insurance.</p>
<p>Many of the folks who post here describe situations that are not really unique, i.e., should I borrow a million dollars to go to Syracuse or take a free ride to state U. Well, that’s just not worth it because the end products may not be that different. HOWEVER, you are actually describing a unique program that may indeed warrant a lot of borrowing.</p>
<p>Just be aware that you may be in for some frugal years. And marry a woman with a good job. <wink></wink></p>
<p>I’d talk with some second year students in the program to learn more about what THEY learned about financial aid, outside job possibilities, and the like.</p>