<p>7/16/11 - MichaelNKat</p>
<p>My daughter graduated in May with a BFA from a small private university. Between a load of scholarships and what we had saved for 18 years, she walked out with no debt. Did she graduate a much more developed and accomplished performer than when she started, absolutely but we would have expected the same thing if she had attended our local state university with a very strong and well regarded theatre program for half the cost. What provided the “value” for the higher cost was her school was a much better fit and provided the type of college experience she wanted, not whether the cost of the college had “value” measured against her selected major. If we couldn’t have done it without incurring a load of debt, she would have gone to our local state university. The “value” based decision would have been driven by our means and not measured by the cost vs her selected major.</p>
<p>But to answer the OP’s original question, my daughter entered college as a legit soprano. She exited with a range from alto to soprano who can sing legit and belt well. Her acting has improved immensely and she gets cast in non-musicals as much as musicals. She walked in with multiple years of dance and walked about a much better dancer. Her stage presence is much more polished and her knowledge and understanding of theatre, its history and dramatic literature is far greater than it ever was. She has the tools to analyze characters and scenes that she did not have before. She received training and development in skills that make her competitive. So yes, she got what she was looking for in her major but at the same time received the varied benefits of a college education.</p>