[SML] Colleges and the arts

[Joe]

On Sunday, September 24, 2023 Bill Sapsis via Stagecraft<stagecraft at theatrical.net> wrote:

>Would now be a good time to start talking about Vo-Techprograms for technical theatre?

I think there have been a number of forces putting pressureon making an education something that is worth the investment.
Regarding shutting down arts programs, The "CarTalk" radio show on PBS often made fun of the "Art HistoryMajors".  They considered it the epitomeof a degree for which you can't find a job in the field. Likewise in theater,the joke is "You are an actress? What restaurant do you workat?".  So the arts majors have longbeen taking criticism regarding it being a viable career. 
And there is sometruth to the jokes. There are many more people who want to be in the art fields,than there are job openings for them. Sports is another example, since only 1.4% of college football players end up as pros. But intheater, the students involved with the theater department are theater majors. Whereas,in sports, it is expected that you are earning a degree in another field.  Business management is a very popular subjectfor athletes, though some take easy, junk, degrees.
For years now, the rising costs of college education, beyondthe cost of inflation, has also been putting pressure on making the degree earnits investment.

The efforts by Biden to use federal money to pay collegedebts has brought the tuition topic to the forefront. The issue of buyingvotes, and capitalism vs. socialism is a major part of that.  So, there is certainly a political component.
But, I think the main issue is if an arts major expectsto earn enough money when they graduate, to make it worth the money that isinvested.  If they expect to have toultimately pay for it themselves, they are more likely to choose somethingother than an arts major.   
Reducing the cost of a theater major, through the Vo-Tech system, is one solution. Another approach for keeping the status quo, is if art departments get thegovernment to subsidize them. But that requires that they do things the governmentwants them to do. And in general, I don't like that idea.  Let the democrats fund their own arts institutions without my own tax money. I actually don't like the idea, even if the government were to get more inline with my own views.

-Joe
  
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