A closer look at life at MCAD

My colleague Alex Friedrich writes MPR's On Campus blog, and last week he decided to spend a day on the campus of MCAD, to find out just what it's like at an art and design school.

While he was there he got a preview of the student art sale, dropped in on a class for aspiring comic-book artists, and attended a critique session of a student's sculpture.

In addition he met with senior Anthony Warnick to get an in-depth view into student life, and sat down for a chat with MCAD President Jay Coogan.

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MCAD President Jay Coogan

MPR Photo/Tim Post

Here's what Coogan had to say about MCAD's high tuition:

Like other specialized schools, art and design schools in general are top net-tuition schools. It's an expensive form of education (small classes, lots of supplies and equipment), and unlike science, it doesn't get subsidized by the government or other organizations. But we have a very low default rate. We're below the national average -- 6.1 percent vs. 7 percent. That means our students are going out and getting jobs. But we're looking for ways that students won't have to take out more loans - such as by offering more institutional scholarships and then raising money for more financial aid. We're readjusting the financial aid formula so that it's more in line with the discount rate -- so net tuition will be dropping for students. We're not sitting by. We're definitely paying attention to this and doing everything we can to address this.

You can read the rest of Coogan's remarks here.