Advice for Artists Who Dream of Fancy Art Schools.

Like most people, in order to put myself through University and Graduate school I had to take out a few student loans. When I took out my very first loan, there was a slight feeling of defeat that came along with signing that first promissory note. That feeling of defeat however was soon followed by a “Loan Check Arrival Day”celebration which usually began with a grocery store shopping spree followed by a much needed weekend out with friends at some dive bar on the Lower East Side.

Unfortunately, in my brain, it didn’t really register, that these small installments would inevitably lead up to the huge insurmountable mother-lode of debt that would hover over me for years and years to follow.

In case you think I’m overdramatizing how much looming debt I had, I will tell you exactly how much it was: Two years after I’d finished my graduate degree, I owed the US government $60,000. To be honest, I never really thought the day would come when I wouldn’t owe the government money.

Fortunately I was wrong, and in 2008 I finally made my final student loan payment. They were finally gone. Done. Dead. Game over. In fact, in making my last payment I somehow managed to over pay, and my rich Uncle Sam had to mail me a refund check. Yep, the creditor that I thought I would be paying back for the next 30 years, ended up owing me $6.62.

A year or so ago I came across the podcast On Point with Tom Ashbrook about the dangers of student loans. Ashbrook interviews Allan Michael Collinge, who wrote the book “The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in US History and How We Can Fight Back”. The title of the book is a bit heavy handed, but I certainly understand his vehemance about the subject. His advice about student loans is especially important to Art students who upon graduation will find themselves with a degree that offers no immediate or at least obvious job opportunities except to become entrepreneurs.

Two serious facts artists should know before taking out loans to enroll in an art program:

1) Student loans are the only type of loan that you can never ever refinance. Ever.

2) certain Student Loan companies make it make it very difficult or confusing to pay student loans at the very beginning of the loan, then profit by putting an account into default and locking the borrower into a high interest rate for the life of the loan. So choose your lender wisely!

You can listen to the podcast here. The listener comments are just as interesting.

My thoughts:

-Any art students who dreams of attending a fancy art college should think long and hard about their actual expenses and their future ability to pay back their debts.

-What's your 5 year plan? Do you want to buy a house? Do you need a new car? Do you want to have an elaborate wedding, or have some adorable little babies? How will you feel if you have to put off some of those plans because you're still paying your student loans?

- If you do decide to take out loans, consider every possible option before taking out a loan for art school. Then take only what you absolutely need to survive.

-Realistically look at what you will be able to pay back on a monthly basis. What kind of monthly income will you be bringing in 6 months after graduation when your loan grace period ends?

-Do you really want to be making $300 a month payments on top of the $1200 a month rent you pay for your crappy Brooklyn apartment?

*piggy image from artvex.com.