There is an ongoing debate about whether to study what you’re passionate about or to study for a job that will pay well.
I studied to make money, and now that I have financial stability, I am able to pursue other passions such as dance, photography and podcasting.
On the other hand, many people who study to follow their passion often end up working in fields unrelated to their studies and struggle financially because they don’t make a enough money to pay their bills.
For example Britney here studied drama and communications and now owes $118,000 in student loans.
Most of these young students don’t understand the consequences of getting student loans. They have a herd mentality. They get a college degree and get into debt without realizing that one day they will have to pay those loans back.
Britney works three jobs to pay her student loans, none of those jobs require a college education, and Britney is not doing the thing that she studied for, which is drama, so she could had gotten those jobs without going to college, without getting into debt, and she could have joined a drama club on the weekends, or evenings. And she would have been much better off.
Many colleges are encouraging students to get degrees in fields where there is very little employment opportunities. You definitely can study anything you want, but if get a student loan, you have to be aware that you have to pay it back, and most likely your crazy degree will not help you do that.
In this video from New York University Gallatin, students get to make up their own major, which is ok, if that’s what they want to do with their time, but I have a hard time figuring out who will give them a job, other than Starbucks.
Here is another liberal art student, she cannot find a job after graduating with two degrees, communications and acting.
I have mentioned it several times in my blog posts and videos that you should only go into debt if you are reasonably certain that you will get a job that will at least allow you to pay off that debt.
If you have artistic dreams, you really don’t need to go to school for that. I have shared many times how I became a dance teacher and then the owner of a dance school without studying dance, and how I became a professional photographer without ever taking a photography class. And I don’t owe any money for learning those skills. If I can do it, I am sure you can do it too.
I think that all these young students who are getting into debt for degrees with limited job opportunities should have a conversation with someone who cares about them and who can provide a realistic picture of what life looks like with a degree that has limited value in the market place.
Young students face immense pressure to choose a college major, get into debt, and figure things out later on in life, because that’s what everyone else does. My main advice is this: Don’t go into debt for a liberal arts degree. If you or your parents can afford it, that’s fine, but please, don’t get into debt for a degree that has limited market opportunity.
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