I am an incoming student to the CCA Mfa program in comics. I really admire your work and have been following it. I wanted to ask you what you honestly thought of the program in relation to how much the tuition cost was? Did you feel that the training and networking was worth it? I am getting cold feet when I see my loan amounts. Thank you for any input.
Hello comics anon!
Sorry it’s taken me a little while to get back to you. I have alot to say on this topic so I’ve been taking time writing ananswer. Weighing the cost verses the benefits is a huge question whenthinking about grad school and I’m glad you are taking itseriously.
Was the CCA MFA Comics program worth it for me? Yes, absolutely.Without a doubt.
Will it be worth it to you? That depends on your own financialsituation.
Let me go into some detail on how much I paid for school and how Ihad to structure my life to make it work. I live in the Bay Area, butdecided to stay in the dorms for the month of July in the summers of2013, 2014 and 2015 and that was good decision. There’s so muchhomework during the intensives that I wouldn’t have had time to sleepif I had been commuting. During the fall and spring I moved back inwith my parents and worked two part time jobs, an average of 20 hoursa week. I decided to pay as much as I could up front and take as fewloans as possible. Over the course of the twoyear program I ended up paying $24,621 outright, received $29,050 inscholarships and took out $24,300 in loans. While in school I kept ontop of the interest payments for the loans because I didn’t want theinterest to accrue before the end of my loan grace period. This isalso helpful as you can report loan interest paid as an expense onyour taxes (though not payments made to the loan itself). By thetime I finished school in fall of 2015 I was flat broke. I couldbarely afford gas to drive to work. The only reason I was ABLE todump all of my money into tuition and not hold any back is that Istill live with my parents and so do not have to pay rent. IfI had been living on my own while in school, I imagine my loan burdenwould be twice as large.
I have no ideahow my situation compares to yours- if you received the samescholarships, if you have loans from undergrad, if you havedependents, or medial bills- all of these things factor in. My goalgoing into grad school was to try and keep my debt under $20,000 (Ididn’t have to take loans in undergrad so these were my first). I didn’t quite manage that,as you can see. The debt I ended up with will probably take me 5years to pay off if I continue to live rent-free, or 15 to 20 yearsif I move out. Those are the costs. For me they were worth it. If Ihad been unable to pay any of my tuition upfront during school andhad had to take out $50K+ in loans- I would still have received anamazing education but I think it would have been less worth it. Sothat’s something to consider.
Another thing toconsider is- do you think you could get into the comiccommunity on your own, without going back to school? If you are verygood at teaching yourself, read widely, watch internet skilltutorials, and think critically about comics you can teach yourself alot. If you are very extroverted, willing to buy your own tables atconventions and good at making your own opportunities, you canabsolutely network on your own. And if you are highly disciplined youcan give yourself deadlines and turn out comics pages without ateacher (or publisher) for external motivation. Lots of people makeit in comics without an MFA, and you hypothetically could as well.
What you wouldmiss out on, if you decided against CCA, are the three main thingsthat drew me there: my teachers, my fellow classmates, and anintroduction to the indie comics world. These benefits are hard toquantify but I am not exaggerating when I say they’ve changed thecourse of my life. Matt Silady, chair of the program, is a pillar ofthe Bay Area Comics community. He knows everyone and he works veryhard to get CCA and it’s students involved in everything. CCA issponsoring/hosting both the SF Comics Fest this fall and the Queers and ComicsConference next spring. While I was at CCA the school bought tablesat APE, Big Wow Con, SPX, Wondercon, SF Zinefest, East Bay Zinefest,AWP, CALA and more and I was able to table for free at these cons andsell my work. All of the instructors are both educators and alsocomics creators in their own right. My thesis advisers includedJustin Hall (Eisner nominated, Xeric Grant recipient, Prism Grantrecipient), Ed Luce (Ignatz nominated twice, Prism Grant recipient), AlecLongstreth (Ignatz award winning) and Thi Bui (soon to be publishedby Abrams) all of whom write amazing booksand gave me invaluable advise. This will probably sound corny, butI’m actually friends with all of them as well. I’ve carpooled withboth Justin and Ed to comic conventions. I’m planning a camping tripwith Thi this fall. Alec and I trade book recommendations and I lovedropping his name into conversation at cons- he taught for years atthe Center for Cartoon Studies, so whenever I meet a CCS student allI have to say is “I’ve also have Alec as a teacher” and instantlywe’ve got something in common and something to talk about. (All goodtalk, Alec, I promise).
Thinkingabout practical skills, Justin was the one who helped me figure outwhat size paper to use when drawing my original pages. Ed Lucerecommended the brand of printer that I use to self-publish. Thecurrent inking method I use on all of my pages was taught to me inthe first summer intensive by Chris Koehler. My thoughts on race andgender in comics were forever changed by John Jennings. I learnedmore digital comics web building than I ever expected to know fromJoyce Rice, and Melanie Gilman packing a lifetimes worth ofprofessional practice into three short weeks. A brief example of howCCA connections have continued to ripple through my life,post-graduation: last weekend at the Queer Comics Expo two of myshort stories debuted in AlphabetAnthology, andthey were published along side stories by three of my classmates andtwo of my teachers from CCA (as well as 30+ other authors over halfof whom I’ve met at conventions). I was on an amazing panel with BexFreund and Scout Tran-Caffee (also both CCA alumni), moderated byEmeric Kennard, (a current CCA student) and we talked for an hourabout making comics in front of a full audience.
Igraduated with the first ever batch of MFA students from the Comicsprogram. We came from a range of backgrounds, and from all over thecounty. This program forged us into a group that I expect will lastthe rest of our lives. I have made over 40 pages of collaborativecomics with Ashley R Guillory. I recently did a joint radio interviewon KRCB with Trinidad Escobar. In addition to the panel I just didwith Bex, we marched together last weekend during Pride. I’mcurrently working on setting up a comics talk with Samuel Sattin, Bexand Trinidad at a major tech company in Oakland. I just sent JacobMagraw Mickelson an email because I want to visit him this summer andwatch his talented wife Rachell Sumpter (one class behind us) presenther MFA thesis comic. I haven’t figured out a way to collaborate withNancy Teresa, David Kelly, Shane McDermott or Josh White yet but it’sgoing to happen- just a matter of time.
I’mfeeling the need for some kind of stirring conclusion, but reallywhat it comes down to is a series of questions. Can you organize yourlife in such a way that paying for grad school looks achievable with the financial resources you have available? Ismaking comics the most important goal for the next five to ten years of yourlife? Do you learn well in a school environment? Is expert guidanceby world-class teachers what you need to get you to sit down andbegin work on your next comic? Do you want to be part of a cohort ofcrazy, inspiring, delightful, passionate comics creators whosecareers will rise in parallel with your own? Is San Francisco theplace you want to get your foot in the door of the comics community?Are you prepared to do everything you can minimize your debt and livefrugally off freelance in an uncertain economy? Are you willing to workextremely long hours to put the stories you have inside your head out intothe world?
Ifyour answers to some of those questions is no, think seriouslyabout whether the cost of the program will be worth it. I thoughtabout those questions too, and my answer was yes.