<p>Very few people in the arts make a lot of money.</p>
<p>If you are after a lot of money…do something else. It would appear that for at least a small section of humanity, (and thank God for them) the joy they take in creativity is more important to them than financial security, and society is so much the better for their sacrifice.</p>
<p>Making money is great and I don’t blame anybody for wanting financial security but it’s not like there’s some sort of moral superiority to choosing a lucrative career nor does that make anyone “smarter” either. I’m not saying people who choose money over love of art are LESS moral than those who choose something else -but I think they ought to at least be decent enough to acknowledge that the world is a much better place on account of the musicians, dancers, actors, writers, and artists who go into their field knowing the odds of making enough money to even be above poverty level are slim. Maybe even a bit of gratitude and fork out that 2 bucks to pay for a song instead of downloading it illegally 
especially if it’s off of the artist’s direct site and all goes to him/her. Just sayin’.</p>
<p>As far as the debt load…well, my daughter is going into the performing arts so we are limiting her school choice to one from which she can graduate without big debt. Hopefully without any debt. It’s a hard truth but if you are going into the arts you will never pay off an 80 thousand dollar loan. Of course you can say that for almost everything in the liberal arts too…but we can’t all be engineers, so something is going to have to change there, but that’s another thread.</p>
<p>…and, the rigours ~ mentally, physically, and academically ~ of a BFA, are NOT for sissies or the frail of mind. People who have firsthand knowledge of this can all assure you of that.</p>