I went to an elite liberal arts college where two-thirds of the students were on financial aid. Along with many others at my school, my education was all but free; my parents had no reason to exert financial control, since they are both musicians/artists along with the rest of my family.

I went into school planning to be an English teacher and came out planning to be a playwright. I consider the liberal arts education to be invaluable, and even if I never make much money from playwriting I know I’ll lead a fulfilling life and will be able to find other jobs in and out of my field to support myself. In addition to theater, I still have the English degree if I decide to “fall back” on it, which seems extremely unlikely.

I had many friends whose parents exerted pressure on them to complete degrees they had little or no interest in. Even though I can sort of see the parents’ perspective here, it never failed to break my heart at the time. Friends slogging through classes and entire degrees that made them frustrated, sad, and even depressed, to head toward a career that made them cringe? That’s miserable. I get that people are suggesting to find a career where what you like and what makes money cross, but diving into creative and academic inquiry is so much more rewarding when you’re not obsessed with the bottom line. There was a huge difference between the people taking pre-med courses who truly desired that career path and those who did it because it was expected, and that difference will follow them all their lives.

People who want their children only to reach for “practical” career goals are attacking the essence of a liberal arts education. I understand that there are many other valuable fields to go into and that business, engineering, and other majors not offered at my school provide viable career paths for many people. But even if school is supposed to prepare you for a career, it can also do so much more. And that’s what is being missed in these kinds of discussions.

There are so many jobs in media and the arts now, at all levels. Sure some people become rockstars in these field, it is a combination of luck and hard work. Some people just love working in the field and they do fine too.
I’m not a rockstar by any means, but I make a totally fine middle class living. And I get to do something I enjoy everyday. That means a lot.

On the other hand, I finished an undergrad degree in architectural history, which my parents were completely against at first. I finished in three years, with honors, had a slew of once-in-a-lifetime experiences while completing my degree, and I am now at one of the best professional degree programs in my field, gaining amazing experience and opening doors to further success. And most importantly, I am happy.

What matters isn’t the field: its the effort you put into it. If you put passion and drive into a plan, finding internships and degree programs and other things to advance yourself, you will stand out from the crowd of people who major in something (anything) and assume that their coursework will be enough. If your choices are deliberate, you can find a way to make it work. And my parents? They are convinced, to say the least. They are proud of where I’ve gone so far (and I’m not done yet) and truly thankful that I have found that elusive happiness. As for my sister, they regret that they pushed her towards marketing at first, since she has found more success in the few months after finishing her second (dream) degree than she had in the first decade after her “practical” major.

What will I tell my future children? You can do anything you want with your life, have any career, just be the best that you can at what you choose to do, and make smart decisions on how to make it all happen.

I think paying for your kids education is about giving them a good start in the form of a $0 bank balance at the start of their career, instead of the -$X0000 bank balance they’ll have if they have to borrow.

Last summer I took a drawing class as a break from the work-related computer science courses I had been taking. I discovered that yes, I did still have the artisitic talent I had when I was a child/teen. I also discovered that drawing a realistic still life requires patience, tenacity, more patience, and a combination of fine motor skills, understanding light, and the ability to visualize 3-D objects.

And my feet got tired from standing at the easel for long periods of time, and my arm, shoulder, and hand got sore from shading in shadows.

On the other hand, if her interest in film studies is primarily from the academic/scholarly perspective, e.g. she wants to become a professor of film studies, work at the National Archives in the film division, or the like, then you might have to work a tad harder to encourage her to take some “practical coursework”….or maybe not, after a quick spin around the interwebs for things like “humanities PhD job statistics.” In any case, a back-up plan is never a bad thing!

In conclusion, it’s not an all or nothing situation. Let the kid major in film/theater/basket weaving, and reason them into minoring in business/computer science/etc.

What was discussed before? Has her major never come up before now, and if not–why? Has she been known to change her mind frequently over the years, or is there a common thread among all her interests?

Automatically assuming an 18-year-old is just naive and Mom knows best is ageist and ridiculous. In forty-some years I’ve known plenty of teenagers with more sense than their parents!

Compromise, compromise. And expanding one’s skill set at the same time!

From a reader whose parents’ undergrads/Master’s/PhD have no bearing on what they are now doing, nor does her liberal arts degree (Classical Civilisation with a minor in Linguistics). As I always say, “I got an education, not a vocation.”

For most… college will be their version of trade school. Most will attempt to get work in their field, and most who attempt to get work outside of it will fail without out SOME sort of training in the field; or being really lucky.

If you like a certain field of study, the best way to obtain it is to study it. Not study something else and then attempt to move into it.

One thing to take from Lib’s story though is that a college degree isn’t necessarily a final determination of your career. If, after school, you change your mind, with enough tenacity and work ethic you CAN make it happen, but it is atypical and is NOT good advice for the general person.

I have had steady, well-paying work in theatre ever since I graduated, and never needed to use my back-up degree.

I’m now a theatre professor, and my students are regularly getting jobs in the field after graduation.

I should note that my specialty is design and technology, not acting. For us folk, there are decent jobs aplenty. For actors, not so much. The same applies to filmmaking. It’s reasonable for a young person to find steady work in film production, with the goal of becoming a director some day.

The concentration within one’s major matters very much. And while I don’t think it’s a great idea to force your child into a particular major because you’re footing the bill, requiring a double major in something more “practical” isn’t a bad idea.

So, if you have always thought of saving for your kids’ colleges to be a specific investment in their career and future earnings, then no, don’t fund liberal arts educations. But if you’ve thought of it as improving your children’s lives, then of course you ought to! (Also if they grew up hearing you talk about paying for college without specific caveats mentioned, it’s grossly unfair to uproot everything now. They might have made different decisions all along.)

What I would do is pay for the courses that are transferable to another degree. For instance, most majors require a language, an English course, a science of some sort.. there are bridging courses that she’ll have to take either way. So I would pay for those.

I’m thinking the kid probably wouldn’t pick that major if she was footing the bill herself.

That said, Film Studies does not seem like the most well-rounded, thought-provoking, paradigm-challenging of degrees. I’d rather my kids have a degree in soc or business or psych…then go into the movie business.

I own an advertising agency/marketing consultancy. I’ve only hired one advertising major —you don’t learn enough about the craft in college to make it that useful and I’m always suspect of someone who pays thousands of dollars to study selling to people.

This is largely class based and your track is almost pre-determined. This might also be changing there as well. My knowledge is based on my experiences over a decade ago.

My parents are both computer industry whizzes. My brother was equally as smart in that field, and became a programmer. They fully expected me to do the same, but the idea made me want to drown myself.

I wanted to major in Communications. My parents were appalled. But they swallowed it down and helped me with tuition.

MY program was awesome-the first year, you spent some time working radio, tv, and writing so you would learn production and see what you wanted to do. I hated the production end, so I ended up in PR. And I loved it and busted my ass.

From sophomore year on, I talked to professors after class to ask them if they could introduce me to professionals that would agree to be my mentor. I started interning my sophomore year. By the time I graduated, I had 5 internships, and a monstrous portfolio with glowing recommendations.

I had 3 job offers before I graduated. I have never been out of work; I’m still frequently contacted to see if I want a new job. I also love what I do.

It’s all about initiative. If your child is the kind of personality that MAKES stuff happen, she’ll be fine in film studies. Just encourage her to make connections, get involved, and start looking for internships right away.