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a bachelor's degree in journalism and media studies. He's especially interested in a Hollywood career, but has found it hard to land a job there. These folks

a bachelor's degree in journalism and media studies. He's especially interested in a Hollywood career, but has found it hard to land a job there. These folks went into debt to the tune of nearly 4x the average american pre-tax income, for a theater degree. No, the lenders shouldn't have let them do that... but come on.

dragonwriter 11y ago
Journalism and media studies is actually not a theater degree, its a non-theater degree (in a different, low-paying field); its a worse choice than a theater degree for someone trying to get a theater career.
gk1 11y ago
Astronomical tuition costs for _some_ colleges is a broken system... Taking out massive loans to attend those overpriced colleges is a bad decision. I can at least sympathize with 17-year-old kids who sign papers without adding up the numbers, but can't feel bad for parents who willingly let this happen.
JPKab 11y ago
Agreed. I went to an affordable, in-state university. My father was wise enough to advise me that I was taking on debt for myself, and should think very hard about the economic consequences of my decision. Some parents are just way too nice to their kids, and these two are in that bracket. I've found it very amusing as I've grown up to notice this is a pattern in otherwise well-meaning, financially successful baby-boomer parents: in stark contrast with my father and other parents like him, they seem to encourage their children to pursue their dreams without any regard to reality. I suspect my father's financial struggles gave him a sense of practicality that some of the executives I work with never had in advising their own kids. I have 3 executives I've reported to in the past year. One of them subsidizes her 30 year old daughter's life of studying Middle Eastern cultures. Another subsidizes his son's death metal band (which he abandoned his Music degree midway for), and the third is paying for his daughter's failing business, openly complaining about the fact that she doesn't seem to show up for work very often and has hired people despite lacking revenue to even pay for herself. Parents enabling bad decisions is never a good thing.
- FireBeyond 11y ago
  I've always found that to be a cultural oddity. Growing up in Australia your parents almost never paid for your first car. I'd estimate 1% or less. And it was a source of pride. Your first car might have been a barely roadworthy beater/clunker but it was yours. Here in the US, there's still some expectation that there's a good chance that, if your parents can afford it, they'll buy your first car. Certainly not an absolute, but definitely a much more commonplace expectation. Some of this is due to other factors too, admittedly. Parents in the US seem to spend more time as chauffeurs than in Australia, often due to the mostly inferior public transit systems.

dragonwriter 11y ago

Journalism and media studies is actually not a theater degree, its a non-theater degree (in a different, low-paying field); its a worse choice than a theater degree for someone trying to get a theater career.

gk1 11y ago

Astronomical tuition costs for _some_ colleges is a broken system... Taking out massive loans to attend those overpriced colleges is a bad decision. I can at least sympathize with 17-year-old kids who sign papers without adding up the numbers, but can't feel bad for parents who willingly let this happen.

JPKab 11y ago

Agreed. I went to an affordable, in-state university. My father was wise enough to advise me that I was taking on debt for myself, and should think very hard about the economic consequences of my decision. Some parents are just way too nice to their kids, and these two are in that bracket. I've found it very amusing as I've grown up to notice this is a pattern in otherwise well-meaning, financially successful baby-boomer parents: in stark contrast with my father and other parents like him, they seem to encourage their children to pursue their dreams without any regard to reality. I suspect my father's financial struggles gave him a sense of practicality that some of the executives I work with never had in advising their own kids. I have 3 executives I've reported to in the past year. One of them subsidizes her 30 year old daughter's life of studying Middle Eastern cultures. Another subsidizes his son's death metal band (which he abandoned his Music degree midway for), and the third is paying for his daughter's failing business, openly complaining about the fact that she doesn't seem to show up for work very often and has hired people despite lacking revenue to even pay for herself. Parents enabling bad decisions is never a good thing.

FireBeyond 11y ago
I've always found that to be a cultural oddity. Growing up in Australia your parents almost never paid for your first car. I'd estimate 1% or less. And it was a source of pride. Your first car might have been a barely roadworthy beater/clunker but it was yours. Here in the US, there's still some expectation that there's a good chance that, if your parents can afford it, they'll buy your first car. Certainly not an absolute, but definitely a much more commonplace expectation. Some of this is due to other factors too, admittedly. Parents in the US seem to spend more time as chauffeurs than in Australia, often due to the mostly inferior public transit systems.