“Earnings is only a small piece of that puzzle,” said Lee Ann Scotto Adams, executive director of the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), a nonprofit that studies the careers of arts graduates.
She and Doug Dempster, the president of SNAAP, worry the new test might lead colleges and universities to preemptively slash low-earning creative arts programs in music, theater, studio art and design. Dempster says that could lead to a further devaluing of jobs that are critical to a well-functioning society.
“We know we need nurses. We know we need journalists. We know we need early childhood educators,” he said. “We don’t know how many artists we need, but I can guarantee that if you eliminate access, we will impoverish our cultural life nationally.”
It’s not necessarily a bad idea, but like everything this Administration does, it’s for all the wrong reasons
The current test does not take student loan debt into account
So, a program at a private school that costs $60k/yr (which is kinda cheap for private schools), and creates graduates with $200k+ worth of debt, but only manages jobs in the $50k range, will be judged “successful”.
But a program at a local community college, which some working people can afford without going into debt, might be judged a failure if they don’t get a raise after finishing.
They say they are helping students, but this type of program only helps student loan servicers.
Ugh. Education shouldn’t exist just to enhance the ability of capitalists to make more money. I remember back in the day laughing at a joke that went like, “oh, you’re majoring in philosophy? I hear there’s a new philosophy factory opening around here soon.” Ha ha ha ha so funny. So many Americans don’t understand why that’s actually a really dumb, bad joke.
Either extreme is clearly wrong. As always it comes down to balance.
I don’t think anyone has argued for only arts and no science
If an undergraduate program’s graduates don’t earn more than workers who never went to college, that program could be cut off from federal student loans. The same goes for any graduate program whose graduates earn less than someone with only a bachelor’s degree. About 18% of undergraduate certificate programs, which often bill themselves as career-focused fast tracks, would fail the earnings test. Specifically, certificate programs in cosmetology and somatic body work have the highest predicted failure rates. Two-year associate degree programs have the next highest failure rate, at 6%. Associate programs that train specialized educators, including early childhood educators, are the most likely to fail. Most traditional, four-year bachelor programs fare well, with roughly 1% failing the earnings test. When these programs do fail, it’s often in areas like theater, music and studio art. About 4% of master’s degree programs would fail, with the highest failure rates for programs teaching mental and social health services.
I get what they are getting at but the measure by which they are using isn’t the best. Like maybe we don’t need more cosmetologists and somatic body workers but It’s a sad day when we defund art, theater, music, mental health, philosophy, and the like.
