I am writing this post because I have never read an article or blog that says you should go to grad school. Most say you should save your time and money. I went to grad school and I stand by my decision. Why I chose to get a MFA:

Not to teach

You have to be realistic about college teaching as a career move. College teaching has bad pay, intense competition, and extremely strict experience requirements. For teaching K-12, a master’s in education is cheaper and more practical.

(I actually love teaching, but it is not my current career goal. I am considering it as a second career in 10 to 20 years.)

To get beyond employment plateau

I worked design jobs and was at a competitive disadvantage because my degree was in another field. The diploma itself didn’t matter as much as the fact that I didn’t have the institutional knowledge and depth of experience I needed. Everyone else got that in art school, so I decided to do that too.

Also, I work at a university. Almost all the people with big jobs at my place of employment have an advanced degree.

True interest in the subject matter

I truly love the subject and wanted to increase my knowledge of it.

Affordability

A cheap state school with a competitive MFA program was 15 miles from my house in a rural area of Virginia. This made school convenient and attainable. A big-name school in a city was completely out of the question since I would have had to pay back $150K in student loans.

(My MFA is in 2D visual art. My concentration is in painting and drawing. I took electives in commercial art, graphic design, and photography. I had a great experience and I am extremely happy with my decision to attend this program.)