Re: College costs and beyond


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Posted by Steve Dedman on February 27, 2000 at 01:15:57:

In Reply to: College costs and beyond posted by Gary Press on February 26, 2000 at 18:46:44:

As I stated in the earlier thread, I don't think that performance degrees should be available to undergraduates. Here's even more evidence in favor of that stance.

I attended a large, state university, with fairly low tuition. (My alma mater was named a "good value" school by some study recently - sorry I can't say for sure which study) I still got a $50K student loan bill on my way out the door. In order to pay those loans, along with all of the other bills, mortgage or rent, etc., I would have to land a gig in an ICSOM orchestra within 6 months of graduation.

But even that isn't going to do it. I checked the wage chart: over 20% of the orchestras in ICSOM have base salaries less than I make at my non-music, entry - level "day" job. The plain truth is that these days, coming out of an undergraduate program with a degree in performance (unless your college was completely paid for in scholarships, parental assistance, etc.) is financially a no - win proposition.

I don't even really think that a performance degree should be available to new graduates. I think that in order for someone to appreciate the position that they could find themselves in, they need to do a couple of post - undergraduate years at the school of hard knocks. Get out there and really feel what it's like to wonder if you'll still have water to shower with when you wake up, or if the water will be hot, or if you will still have phone service to call the water company to arrange payment.

If someone still wants to play professionally after a couple of lean years, more power to 'em! But in my opinion, churning out dozens of undergrad performance majors from schools all over the country, especially at a few schools that shouldn't be offering the degree to anybody, is a huge disservice to those students.

My opinion.




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