Thanks for your thoughtful, articulate and balanced feedback.

Armand

I feel like I need to speak up for the other side here–the loan takers and part-time workers. I’m in my third year of grad school (did a year as an MA, then transferred to an MFA) and have taken out large loans every year. The first year, I worked full time as well, but for the last two years, I’ve been a graduate assistant. My funding as a GA covers tuition and a small stipend–not enough to even pay all my bills, let alone eat or buy shampoo–so I never thought twice about taking out the loans. That first year, I probably should have passed on the loans, but I took them and paid off my credit card debt, bought a laptop, and invested the rest. I thought this was wise because the interest on my student loans is much less than that on my credit cards and is considered “good debt” by credit agencies.

I suppose that I may regret my decision when I’m an adjunct and trying to pay back these huge loans, but I never thought of grad school (especially a degree in writing) as a path to a job. I had a job when I started grad school and although it paid well, it didn’t make me happy. Grad school makes me happy. I’m teaching, which as anything other than a GA I’m not qualified to do, and I spend every day immersed in books and poems and words. My writing has improved exponentially since I quit my full time job, and so has my quality of life. I’ve traveled more, met more interesting people, and learned more in the last couple years than in my whole life before.

I can’t say any of this with the benefit of hind-sight, but I think that the experience I’m having right now is worth any amount of financial burden I’ll face in my future. If I were still working full time, or even working a part time serving or retail job on top of my GA work, I wouldn’t have time to go to conferences, readings, and other literary events, and I’d be more strapped for time on things like papers and weekly reading. (And while sometimes I wish I could focus on just one paper, or one book instead of two or three at a time, I often find that my courses compliment each other in a way that taking one class at a time wouldn’t.)

So, to sum it all up, I consider my loans the price that I have to pay for the best few years of my life. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly, but it has allowed me, if only for a short time, to live the writer’s life, which has been a dream of mine for quite some time.

Here are two that provide a good amount of support:

University of Alabama. Tuscaloosa:

“…It’s our policy to accept only applicants to whom we can pledge financial support for the duration of their programs…. All of our students qualify for Graduate Teaching Assistantships, which include a stipend paid over 9 months (currently $10,007) and full tuition remission…”

link: http://www.as.ua.edu/english/08_cw/support.html

University of Oregon, Eugene

” …The Creative Writing Program attempts to fund all admitted students with Graduate Teaching Fellowships (GTFs). Students with GTFs receive full tuition waivers (worth $13,734 in 2004-05), partial payment of student fees, health insurance, and a stipend of $9,314 per academic year…”

link: http://www.uoregon.edu/~crwrweb/faq.htm

I don’t think any school will cover all your expenses, but those cover a healthy portion.

If you just want to write and do not feel the need to explore other related careers options (like teaching) you migth be better served attending a good writing workshop (sans degree) at a place like Grubstreet in Boston (grubstreet.org) or Gotham Writers in New York.

best of luck-

Armand

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Glad that it helped allay some of your worries. Keep checking Gordon’s Blog, and let us know what’s happening as you work your way through your MFA program.

Armand