The Foolishness of pursuing an MFA

I just discovered this article("Trouble with the MFA") and it prompted me to talk about something that I have not yet touched on- the idiocy of an MFA(Master of Fine Arts) degree.  This, like most Masters programs is a scam.  (Side note: Nearly every degree program in any field is now a scam).  I have a degree myself- BFA from the (non-sexy)Louisiana Tech University.  I would say that most, if not all of my teachers were highly competent in their fields, but how does that translate into teaching a student to achieve his/her own vision.  This must have happened post-WWII.  To me, this is probably the era when art and craft become separated out by pretentious asshats who've been successful at convincing people that they know more about art than everyone else.

So, how do art schools support, educate, and nurture artists vision and hopes and dreams for the future?  They don't.  I can list the all the classes that benefitted me the most:  Color Theory:  This was a terrible class to me while I was taking it, but little did I know how much it would help me in the future.  Art History:  This gave me some background and perspective into a field I was excited to join.  Experimental Painting(2 classes):  This is self-explanatory.  I also enjoyed a glass sculpture class that was only offered during the summer.  The rest of the art portion of my education was simply busy work that had to be 'defended' during (sometimes comical)critiques.  Students struggle to think of 5 syllable words at a moments notice to describe their work in ways that they think will impress the professor and their peers.  After that, it's like a feeding frenzy.  The professor and students then take turns telling the student how they'd do this and that differently.  How exactly do you tell someone how to express their artistic vision? This is the basis of art school for a BFA.
So, what is required to attain a Masters degree?  The only difference between the two is for the MFA, you continue to pursue your vision as an artist, you just pay a boat load more money to keep getting the opinions of professors.

Here is how the scam works.  Art School is usually filled with dreamers and idealists, like myself.  We pay money to these people in return for the skills and knowledge we need to succeed in life as independent artists, right?  Wrong.  You are paying to get churned into a system that only exists for itself.  Are marketing, business, or accounting classes included in the BFA?  Not at my school, and I doubt it is in any other.  Why?  The expectation is that you will either use your attained knowledge as a hobby, OR get an MFA so you can try to fight and climb your way over others to get the handful of low-level, low-paying teaching jobs that sporadically become available.  If this is where you are, then you had better get that carmex out and lube those lips real good because you are in for a marathon of ass-kissing .  After all, you are competing with who knows how many other duped artists for that shitty low-paying job.  It's what I like to call the University-Industial Complex.  To be fair, all degrees in liberal arts are essentially useless.  I'd be here a while if I listed all the degreed(and very intelligent) folks I know who are not only NOT working in their field, but doing jobs that were unheard of in the past for degreed individuals.

I've told every person who's asked about whether or not they should get a degree: ABSOLUTELY NOT.  UNLESS, you are in a very specific field- pre-med, engineering, etc- degrees that are more about TRAINING than EDUCATING, you are wasting your money and putting yourself under a mountain of disastrous debt.  It's simply no longer worth it.  I've been out of school now since 2000, and I'm still about $30,000 in the red.  Yes, you read that right.  Now take into account that my tuition was paid by the state of Louisiana due to all the hard work I put into my public education.  That scholarship didn't cover housing or meals, and being poor, I didn't have any other means to pay for that except for loans.  I also worked on campus(I did not have a car) 20 hours a week(the maximum hours allowed for a full time student)every quarter of college.

No one can teach you to be creative.  You either are or you are not.  No amount of criticism from an art teacher will alter the direction of your vision if you are a true artist.  So, why bother going to a college?  There are numerous instructional videos available all across the internet.  There are also free online classes you can take to acquire knowledge you lack.  I feel like I was cheated because I was cheated.  I guess I'm what could be called a "Populist Artist."  This doesn't come as a surprise to me since I'm a direct descendent of the infamous Huey P. Long.. AKA the "FDR of Louisiana."  Let's take back art like we all need to take back the country as a whole.  Everything is wrong and it's time we all stop being lazy and do something about it.  Art was meant for everyone and it should be accessible to everyone.