How much debt is too much debt for MTs?

MichaelNKat
Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:31:17 +0000

Actormcfamous, here’s my take on the question you posed - and by take, I mean how I would analyze the issues, not what the right answer is. Only you can reach that conclusion.

Attending your “dream school” is a wonderful thing. But think through why it is your dream school. Is it because of the content of the education you will get, it’s location or “reputation”? If it is because of “reputation” or as others might label it, “ranking”, that is the least legitimate of reasons to to incur substantial debt. The reality is, a year out of school, no one will care where you graduated from. All they will care about is what you bring to auditions and what anyone may know about how it is to work with you. It’s really no different than many other professions. When I hire a lawyer for my firm, the least important criteria for me is which law school he or she graduated from. I look for those qualities that will make them an asset to my firm as a working attorney, and the name of the school on the degree is relatively unimportant in reality.

Focusing on educational content and location gives you some things to evaluate and compare between schools that are quantifiable. You can dig into the curricula and contrast what each school has to offer. You can determine if at one school where you would be in an acting program you can supplement with voice and dance so as to get much of what you would get at a MT program. Your earlier comment about the primacy of acting is right on point. A good actor who also has a backround in voice and dance will have many more employment opportunities than someone who is a good singer or dancer but can’t act. I would also give a lot of thought about location in comparing the schools because this is where you are going to live for the next 4 years and you need to have a life outside of the classroom/studio to maintain balance and sanity in your life. If you can’t see yourself enjoying living in a particular location for the next four years, then it’s probably not a good school for you to attend regardless of anything else including finances. So I would compare and contrast the schools’ locations to see whether any school stood out for a particular reason.

Then comes what for you is an important and perhaps over-riding consideration - cost. Taking out substantial student loans will undoubtably create additional burdens on you upon graduation at a time when graduates, regardless of major or field of employment, are facing tremendous pressures to afford the costs of housing, health insurance, food and transportation. Being saddled with $100,000 in loans makes it that much more difficult to afford these essentials, let alone saving for a future where your priorities and needs may be different than they are for the first 5 or 6 years after graduation. You need to get a solid handle on the amount of loans you would need for each school and calculate what your monthly repayment obligations would be and when they would kick in. Work out some “what if scenarios” in which you calculate in today’s monthly costs for for the essentials of housing, health insurance, food and transportation to get a rough handle on proportionately what kind of impact the loans would have on a monthly budget. Compare that with what you would expect your income to be.

Once you have a clear analysis of the economics, you can do a “cost/benefit” analysis between the various schools. You may conclude that what one school offers stands out so much above the others that the increased financial pressures after graduation are worth it. Or the balance may go in a different direction. But at least then, you are making a decision based on the “facts”, as you can best determine them, and can make a well thought out decision. And keep in mind that if your list of schools was a good one for you to begin with, most students find that they have a very gratifying college experience at the school they end up attending. Oftentimes, a school that wasn’t your “top choice” ends up becoming your “dream school” because of what you invest of yourself.