$78,000 of Debt for a Harvard Theater Degree

The New York Times ^ | 07 Aug 2017 | SOPHIE HAIGNEY

[ALongRoadAhead]

I can only laugh so hard at her debt as my debt-free IT degree did me jack against the Zero and another tidal wave of outsourcing.

[Romulus]

Young men consumed with an ambition for musical theatre are usually homosexuals. I knew one in college; his ambition was to be steward on a cruise boat. He died a long time ago, probably from AIDS. Maybe the same thing happened to your friend.

[Romulus]

I have known a couple of bankers who went to Harvard. One was very conservative. The other on the liberal side, but not an extremist (he’s a partner in a small mortgage banking business serving the private sector). Both good guys; both several decades past their Harvard graduations.

[Truthsearcher]

“Most young actors don’t face graduate school debt like this — yet it is common for those who attend the A.R.T. Institute. Despite being at the world’s wealthiest university, institute students receive modest financial aid and leave with a median of $78,000 in debt in exchange for a master of liberal arts degree from the Harvard Extension School.”

[fr_freak]

Wait... her loan was $75,000, and if she's been paying $650 a month for 12 years... if her interest rate was 3.8% she would be paid off by now.

Most likely she has been deferring payment of the loan as much as she can. She probably just ran out of deferment options.

[x]

She borrowed all that money for Harvard's program with the Moscow Art Theater. If she'd done it the other way around, applied directly to a Russian theater, she would probably have paid a lot less. Then she went on to the Groundlings, the LA comedy troupe. Once again, if she just skipped Harvard and went directly to the Groundlings, she wouldn't owe all that money.

She hasn't done much with her degree. Here she is in the video short He's Still Voting For Trump. Not funny. #FakeComedy.

[Herakles]

They already did. Why do u think they were crying when HRC lost. That was a big reason most millenials voted for her.

[9YearLurker]

I am sure it made good business sense up until they had to go on a 3-year hiatus. It is not like graduate theater students are going to refill the corporate coffers like their b-school or law grads.

[Chode]

she could do porn...

[Chgogal]

Snowflakes are not the smartest. They probably failed arithmetic 101.

[Paladin2]

She clearly has marketable skillz.

[The_Media_never_lie]

She is very pretty but given her type of degree there is a 99.9% chance she is a batsh!t crazy toxic feminist.

Most sane, or even nearly sane, men with any wherewithal know this and stay away from her. Also, if she is a feminist, she probably doesn't want to be around men.

---

Yep!

[Paladin2]

She is clearly qualified to be a CNN Talking Head spouting Fake News 24/7.

She seems to be a natural, and looks better than most.

[Teacher317]

Listen, lady, the bank did exactly what you asked them to do. Your problem is with the liberal institution, Harvard. THEY are the ones that ripped you off. Then again, what was wrong with going to the local junior college or state college? Had to go to Harvard, eh?

She HAD to have the Michael Kors purse, even though the Walmart purse cost 1/20 as much, and would benefit her in the same exact way... and YOU should pay for the difference, so that she can have a better self-image with the pricier label.

[RooRoobird20]

Are we supposed to feel sorry for this moron?

Sweetie, that degree and two bits won’t even buy you a cup of coffee.

[Oatka]

Twelve years after finishing Harvard’s graduate theater program, . . .

My favorite is the Occupy guy complaining about lack of job prospects - after all, he had a Masters in Puppetry.

How could ANY school, in good conscience, even offer that discipline?

[OldMissileer]

How could ANY school, in good conscience, even offer that discipline?

Money. That's all.

[wideminded]

Looks like she is paying an interest rate of 9 or 10%, depending on the term.

As for the value of a theater degree, there are some famous actors who taken this route: e.g. Robin Williams - Juilliard, Meryl Streep - Yale.