‘Financially Hobbled for Life’: The Elite Master’s Degrees That Don’t Pay Off

How would "forgiving" the loans of people with MFA degrees from Colombia in film be anything but a transfer of money from hard-working taxpayers to some of the most privileged people in the United States?

This quote from the article is a better answer:

> “We should not be giving federal-aid dollars to these programs that systematically saddle students with high debt,” he said.

But I don't see our President proposing it.

> Columbia film alumni had the highest debt compared with earnings among graduates of any major university master’s program in the U.S

When I was 17, graduating from high school and about to go into college, family, teachers, and counselors all said follow your dreams. Tuition when I started was $4k/yr, which was an amount of money I had never seen. I feel like I was the only one to ask how I would pay for that.

Answer was to take out loans and get a job. I’m glad I got an engineering degree and not a film degree.

> [Caption to the lead photo] Zack Morrison, a 29-year-old filmmaker and Columbia University MFA film graduate, worries about how he will pay off his school loan balance of nearly $300,000.

$300k for an MFA? Surely it doesn't take that much sense to realize this is not a good investment.

The universities can charge whatever they want in this scenario. They get paid upfront. They assume no risk upon student loan default. The taxpayer ultimately has to foot the bill for any unpaid portion of the loan. Moral hazard yet again.