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

[entremet]

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

Lured by the aura of degrees from top-flight institutions, many master’s students at universities across the U.S. took on debt beyond what their pay would support, an analysis of federal data on borrowers found.

www.wsj.com

Recent film program graduates of Columbia University who took out federal student loans had a median debt of $181,000.

Yet two years after earning their master's degrees, half of the borrowers were making less than $30,000 a year.

The Columbia program offers the most extreme example of how elite universities in recent years have awarded thousands of master's degrees that don't provide graduates enough early career earnings to begin paying down their federal student loans, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Education Department data.

Recent Columbia film alumni had the highest debt compared with earnings among graduates of any major university master's program in the U.S., the Journal found. The New York City university is among the world's most prestigious schools, and its $11.3 billion endowment ranks it the nation's eighth wealthiest private school.

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At New York University, graduates with a master's degree in publishing borrowed a median $116,000 and had an annual median income of $42,000 two years after the program, the data on recent borrowers show. At Northwestern University, half of those who earned degrees in speech-language pathology borrowed $148,000 or more, and the graduates had a median income of $60,000 two years later. Graduates of the University of Southern California's marriage and family counseling program borrowed a median $124,000 and half earned $50,000 or less over the same period.

"NYU is always focused on affordability, and an important part of that is, of course, to help prospective students make informed decisions," said spokesman John Beckman. Northwestern spokeswoman Hilary Hurd Anyaso said the speech-language pathology program is among the best in the world, leading to a "gratifying career path that is in high demand." USC spokeswoman Lauren Bartlett said providing students financial support and employment opportunities was a priority for the school.

Undergraduate students for years have faced ballooning loan balances. But now it is graduate students who are accruing the most onerous debt loads. Unlike undergraduate loans, the federal Grad Plus loan program has no fixed limit on how much grad students can borrow—money that can be used for tuition, fees and living expenses.

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It has become the fastest-growing federal student loan program and charged interest rates as high as 7.9% in recent years.

The no-limit loans make master's degrees a gold mine for universities, which have expanded graduate-school offerings since Congress created Grad Plus in 2005. Graduate students are for the first time on track to have borrowed as much as undergraduates in the 2020-2021 academic year, federal loan data show.

"There's always those 2 a.m. panic attacks where you're thinking, 'How the hell am I ever going to pay this off?' " said 29-year-old Zack Morrison, of New Jersey, who earned a Master of Fine Arts in film from Columbia in 2018 and praised the quality of the program. His graduate school loan balance now stands at nearly $300,000, including accrued interest. He has been earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year from work as a Hollywood assistant and such side gigs as commercial video production and photography.

Highly selective universities have benefited from free-flowing federal loan money, and with demand for spots far exceeding supply, the schools have been able to raise tuition largely unchecked. The power of legacy branding lets prestigious universities say, in effect, that their degrees are worth whatever they charge.

"Students gravitate to Columbia because Columbia's Columbia, right?" film professor and writer-director Katherine Dieckmann said in a 10-minute video about the program that the school posted on YouTube in 2019. "It's a world-class, Ivy League institution with access to all kinds of other departments, other ideas. It's a world-class university. And the next thing is it's in New York City. And I think that combination of elements is pretty seductive."


That was the case for Columbia film MFA student Patrick Clement, who attended community college in California before transferring to the University of Kansas for his bachelor's degree.

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"As a poor kid and a high-school dropout, there was an attraction to getting an Ivy League master's degree," said Mr. Clement, 41. He graduated in 2020 from Columbia, borrowing more than $360,000 in federal loans for the degree. He is casting for an independent film, he said. To pay the bills, he teaches film at a community college and runs an antique shop.

Columbia grad students who borrowed money typically held loans that exceeded annual earnings two years after graduation in 14 of the school's 32 master's degree programs tracked by the Education Department, the Journal found. In about a dozen Columbia master's programs, the majority of recent graduates weren't repaying the principal on their loans or took forbearance, according to data released for the first time this year.

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Paywalled, but choice excerpts:

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

Lured by the aura of degrees from top-flight institutions, many master’s students at universities across the U.S. took on debt beyond what their pay would support, an analysis of federal data on borrowers found.

www.wsj.com

Never heard of Grad Plus loans. They sound insane--they have no limit. Makes sense for lawyers, doctors, etc. But if seems like a life of debt for those that end up in high paying fields.

There really needs to be more information for students considering these. Institutions are too biased. They want enrollments.

 

[EagleBen]

Read this earlier today. We need student loan reform. These schools should be on the hook when the students are unable to pay.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

I read this earlier today. Talk about a grift

 

[DOT_mjo]

I'm $80k in debt and at times it has really made me question the awful fucking decision I made to go to college. I could not fucking live with myself if I was in $150k+ debt, think I would've had a heart attack just from the constant fear of not being able to pay all that money back.

Also I'm sorry but no one in their right mind should ever be fucking borrowing $300k. That's just ludicrous.

 

[entremet]

I'm $80k in debt and at times it has really made me question the awful fucking decision I made to go to college. I could not fucking live with myself if I was in $150k+ debt, think I would've had a heart attack just from the constant fear of not being able to pay all that money back.

Also I'm sorry but no one in their right mind should ever be fucking borrowing $300k. That's just ludicrous.

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Many of those profiled will not pay their loans back, ever. Unless some law is passed or we do debt forgiveness.

 

[HStallion]

One of the smartest moves I ever made was avoiding going to NYU and similar prestigious but incredibly pricey schools for a state college.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

I'm sorry...

....median debts of $181,000? With some people getting $300,000+ worth of college loans?!

OMFG, It's like they took on a damn mortgage!

 

[krazen]

Gonna be a real cool future where it's not worth pursing higher education unless its STEM; no historians, creatives and traditional academics...just mofos getting degrees to pay off a gallon of debt.

 

[Quample]

Read this earlier today. We need student loan reform. These schools should be on the hook when the students are unable to pay.

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Yep. And maybe tuition of a particular subject should be commensurate with average post graduate income at that institution or something. It would be good for everyone; schools could actually have a reason behind their higher tuitions, students don't get completely fucked or avoid more academic/lower paying subjects.

 

[Cantaim]

We definitely need to have a serious talk about student loan reforms. But I think we also gotta have a talk about thinking it might not be a good idea to spend over 100k for master degrees in fields that don't pay.

 

[Damaniel]

I spent $35k on my CS Master's degree, which has opened up a lot of doors, as embedded software companies are preferentially hiring MS candidates for senior >10 years experience) positions. Depending on where you live, that degree could pay for itself in 4 or 5 years from increased pay potential alone.

I don't understand the idea of paying 6 figures for a degree in filmmaking. 99% of those people will never make a profitable film, and most of them won't ever even be given a chance to. If your interest is filmmaking, I'd say get a better paying day job and do the film stuff on the side - or at least don't rack up medical degree levels of debt in the process.

 

[TolerLive]

Yeah i had to use a bunch of grad plus loans to get my masters. The amount I'm supposed to repay over the next 25 years is mind numbingly ridiculous.

 

[Dant21]

Gonna be a real cool future where it's not worth pursing higher education unless its STEM; no historians, creatives and traditional academics...just mofos getting degrees to pay off a gallon of debt.

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Oh, we'll still have people with non-STEM degrees to be in those fields. They'll just all be the descendants of the wealthy…

 

[Mcfrank]

One of the smartest moves I ever made was avoiding going to NYU and similar prestigious but incredibly pricey schools for a state college.

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Yep. I was accepted to NYU Film for undergrad but the scholarship they offered me would only cover about 20% of the cost. I sat down with my high school calc teacher and went over all of the loans I would get and how interest would impact them and once I saw how much I would be in debt on my 25th birthday I decided to go to the local University and live with my parents through college. I came out debt free and I consider it one of the best decisions I ever made. Good job 17 year old me.

 

[Arc]

Funny to see this as I weigh making the deposit to pursue a $90,000 MBA.

 

[Darkmaigle]

Yet every dipshit I know with an MBA continues to fail up

Lol

(not saying if you have an MBA you are a dipshit I'm planning on getting mine too)

 

[AndyD]

Yep. And maybe tuition of a particular subject should be commensurate with average post graduate income at that institution or something. It would be good for everyone; schools could actually have a reason behind their higher tuitions, students don't get completely fucked or avoid more academic/lower paying subjects.

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I think it is worth mentioning that most of the salary analysis in the article seems to be close after graduation, rather than well into their careers, let alone an average of graduates. And with a lot of the jobs mentioned, or even in STEM advanced degrees, entry level salaries shortly after graduation are not representative of career salaries. It's why graduated and income based repayment systems are a thing. You pay only as a percentage of income and it ramps up as you earn more.

 

[entremet]

Funny to see this as I weigh making the deposit to pursue a $90,000 MBA.

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MBAs are still worth it? I heard they've been losing relevancy.

 

[ultracal31]

If your interest is filmmaking, I'd say get a better paying day job and do the film stuff on the side - or at least don't rack up medical degree levels of debt in the process.

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Heck if you really want to, go be a PA to learn the in and out of film making (debatable on this) and being on set

No need to pay 6 figures for this...

 

[Darkmaigle]

MBAs are still worth it? I heard they've been losing relevancy.

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MBAs are still 100% relevant if you have some work experience to go with it.

 

[HStallion]

Yep. I was accepted to NYU Film for undergrad but the scholarship they offered me would only cover about 20% of the cost. I sat down with my high school calc teacher and went over all of the loans I would get and how interest would impact them and once I saw how much I would be in debt on my 25th birthday I decided to go to the local University and live with my parents through college. I came out debt free and I consider it one of the best decisions I ever made. Good job 17 year old me.

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Sounds incredibly similar to what happened with me though I did live on campus and did take out some student loans but it was a fraction of what I would have owed if I went to NYU. Would have loved the experience I'm sure but I'd be paying for it for decades after the fact.

 

[NealMcCauley]

Yep. I was accepted to NYU Film for undergrad but the scholarship they offered me would only cover about 20% of the cost. I sat down with my high school calc teacher and went over all of the loans I would get and how interest would impact them and once I saw how much I would be in debt on my 25th birthday I decided to go to the local University and live with my parents through college. I came out debt free and I consider it one of the best decisions I ever made. Good job 17 year old me.

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I knew one person who went there for undergrad about 15 or so years ago. Apparently when it finally hit him how much debt he was in he had a low grade psychotic episode and he's never been the same. Last I heard he's moving between siblings and grandparents' houses every few months so the debtors can't find him. Not sure about the logic behind that, but again, episode.

 

[Darth Karja]

Gonna be a real cool future where it's not worth pursing higher education unless its STEM; no historians, creatives and traditional academics...just mofos getting degrees to pay off a gallon of debt.

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I think for most people it's already there. I am so happy I never went to school.

 

[captive]

why would you get a masters in film?
i feel like you have a better chance at "making it" in film by just using your phone to make films and upgrading equipment when you can on youtube.

 

[Servbot24]

I got an illustration degree from a fairly crappy art program, but in a way I am lucky it was not a full priced art school. I ended up with 35k in debt which I paid off after 8 years. The art degree of course gave me absolutely zero value and I now work in software. But I could have easily ended up with $100k for the same useless degree if I went to a legit art school.

 

[mentok15]

How much are the degrees themselves? My masters in Australia was around 40k AUD.

 

[HanSoloCup]

Yet every dipshit I know with an MBA continues to fail up

Lol

(not saying if you have an MBA you are a dipshit I'm planning on getting mine too)

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Haha! It's true. My MBA cost me $130K, and although I am almost at 4x my pre-MBA salary in the 7 years since, others in my program probably shouldn't have got an MBA with what they are doing now.

 

[Radd Redd]

Go to community college. Do every course you possible can. Transfer to a 4 year college and get a diploma in a field that makes money. Look at all the money you don't owe.

 

[hurlex]

Colleges shouldn't be about finding jobs. They aren't trade schools. We need to break the culture that you have to go to college to find a job so schools will stop these predatory practices.

 

[krazen]

Oh, we'll still have people with non-STEM degrees to be in those fields. They'll just all be the descendants of the wealthy…

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Sadly, yup. You see it in a bunch of artistic/creative disciplines even now; there was a deleted tweet by a music journalist I follow who said 'Instead of thanking their managers and their mothers, most indie rock artists need to thank their trust fund'

 

[scottbeowulf]

I'm so glad I dropped college about a semester in. My wife and I have no school debt and do quite well without degrees. A degree is obviously needed depending on your career, but there's tons of pressure out there to get a bachelor's or more in things that do not require one at all.

 

[El Bombastico]

Oh, we'll still have people with non-STEM degrees to be in those fields. They'll just all be the descendants of the wealthy…

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As a history major, I am fucking TERRIFIED about what history texts will look like once the only people actually writing them are rich people...

 

[Deleted member 8752]

Never heard of Grad Plus loans. They sound insane--they have no limit. Makes sense for lawyers, doctors, etc. But if seems like a life of debt for those that end up in high paying fields.

There really needs to be more information for students considering these. Institutions are too biased. They want enrollments.

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For anyone who has hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal loans, I highly recommend looking into Public Service Loan Forgiveness. It's a common path to becoming debt free for lawyers and doctors in 10 years. Take advantage now while the program is still around.

 

[thewienke]

I'm just so thankful that a Masters in Accounting is only a one year program (still ran me $20k about 10 years ago). Once you get past that it gets really damn expensive and there really isn't any financial aid.

 

[Doomguy Fieri]

Hate to spend $200k for a master's in film then work in an insurance company call center while some kid on Youtube makes $200k a month talking about how awesome Zach Snyder is.

 

[Dennis8K]

That is a crazy median amount of student debt.

A lot of non-STEM degrees appear to not be worth the debt.

 

[Deleted member 8752]

Colleges shouldn't be about finding jobs. They aren't trade schools. We need to break the culture that you have to go to college to find a job so schools will stop these predatory practices.

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Chicken and egg though - I'd never send my kid to get higher education in anything that wasn't 100% vocational due to the insane cost.

 

[entremet]

Colleges shouldn't be about finding jobs. They aren't trade schools. We need to break the culture that you have to go to college to find a job so schools will stop these predatory practices.

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That's what colleges originally were, finishing schools for the elite. As we've democratized access to college, their focus on career development has only increased. Cheating is also rampant.

 

[Deleted member 8752]

MBAs are still worth it? I heard they've been losing relevancy.

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They are still worth it in the finance world.

 

[The Albatross]

Lucked out not pursuing a Masters in Public Policy or Political Science. back when I was ~22 that's what I was dead set on. I didn't get into the grad school that I wanted to get into (GWU, Catholic) and decided to put it on hold, started working, got lucky, and I'm still in that career path 15 years later with no grad school debt.

 

[Piston]

I'm $80k in debt and at times it has really made me question the awful fucking decision I made to go to college. I could not fucking live with myself if I was in $150k+ debt, think I would've had a heart attack just from the constant fear of not being able to pay all that money back.

Also I'm sorry but no one in their right mind should ever be fucking borrowing $300k. That's just ludicrous.

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My girlfriend will have over 200k from med school debts alone when she is done next year. She will hopefully be a surgeon and be earning enough to pay them off though. She is looking into doing 10 years at public hospitals to get federal loan forgiveness but I know those programs can be finicky.

That is with her getting a free ride in undergrad.

 

[Deleted member 8752]

My girlfriend will have over 200k from med school debts alone when she is done next year. She will hopefully be a surgeon and be earning enough to pay them off though. She is looking into doing 10 years at public hospitals to get federal loan forgiveness but I know those programs can be finicky.

That is with her getting a free ride in undergrad.

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Crazy to say this but 200k is very average or even on the low end in the world of med school debt.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Why the fuck would a Masters, any Masters, in any subject at all, be worth $360 fucking grand? That's more than the average 4 year cost for private medical schools.

They are 100% fleecing these students, especially if "prestige" degrees get you a Hollywood job bussing donuts.

 

[Zache]

I feel like someone, between my mother or my academic advisors, would have slapped some sense into me before I took on a non-funded grad program at some expensive private.

 

[DPT120]

That's why I'm waiting on getting my MBA and looking for a job instead.

 

[Deleted member 13798]

I didn't even get something as insane and expensive as this and I'm still financially crippled by my MA because the job field I'm in, the payment is a fucking joke.

 

[Vector]

Don't mean to gloat, but my undergrad degree cost me 0 as I live in an European country that finances the top 70-or so % of students for their undergrad studies. Master's programs here are also pretty affordable.

Have my B.Sc. CS and I'm thinking of maybe pursuing an MBA later down the road at some fancy school if I can afford it.

 

[SeeingeyeDug]

I'm sorry...

....median debts of $181,000? With some people getting $300,000+ worth of college loans?!

OMFG, It's like they took on a damn mortgage!

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A 9% mortgage with no change in equity.

 

[julia crawford]

Over one hundred eighty thousand dollars for a college course..... how is that even possible...

 

[Piston]

Crazy to say this but 200k is very average or even on the low end in the world of med school debt.

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It's *over* 200k, not sure how much over. I think she said it was like ~60k a year, so probably ~250k total.