“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
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.