It has been a while since I posted, but someone sent this link to me and asked if I’d chime in.
Our D graduated with a BA + MT Certificate from Northwestern in 2015. Since graduating she has fully supported herself on her MT wages, though we have voluntarily covered her health insurance (altho she has qualified for AEA insurance every term since graduation which would have been cheaper than our family policy) and her cell phone, since we are doing the same for her brother who is getting a PhD. We also cover some of her travel when she vacations with us, and she recently stayed with us for 2 months while she did a performing gig in our city – the first time she’s worked or lived at home in 7.5 years! Otherwise she pays all her own living expenses, plus travel expenses for auditions, and has even managed to build some savings. She works reception for gyms when time permits to get free exercise classes, and babysits on occasion as she craves kid time (sometimes in exchange for voice lessons). She always knew we would not help with post-college living expenses.
That said, her situation is rare in that she was fortunate enough to fit her type – ingenue – as a young adult, which is not true for all young actors. She was also lucky to be cast professionally as a junior in college, immediately get signed by an agent, and get a steady stream of work ever since. In addition, she was fortunate enough to graduate with no student debt, which obviously makes a huge difference. Her BF is also an MT who graduated from a Conservatory. He is paying student debt, but has also covered his living expenses with the help of occasional catering and Lyft driving to fill any gaps between contracts. Both of them recognize that each contract could be their last, so they sock away as much extra money as possible when they are on contracts.
Both D and her BF launched their careers in Chicago, where they graduated with contacts from school, and saved money before moving to NYC, which is lucky as their first NY apartment required a small fortune in move-in costs (an exceptionally high # as landlord required 3 months of Escrow in addition to Broker fees and security deposits as they had out-of-town guarantors), and a year later they are moving again and will repeat some of those expenses.
They both have many MT friends who have chosen different paths since graduation. They know folks who are being very successful at places like LinkedIn and Google, doing marketing, PR, public policy, theatre management, writing, directing, going to Law and Medical school… honestly they know former MTs happily doing a huge variety of things.
So while it is true that many/most MT grads may not be self-sufficient immediately after graduation I can say firsthand that it is possible, and also that training in Theatre will open a surprising number of doors for kids who take the risks and initiative needed to branch into different fields.
I felt the same trepidation when our D entered college, and asked many of the same questions, but so far so good. Hope this helps a little!