Thread by @annehelen

I've wanted to do a similar piece to this *excellent* WSJ piece on financially & psychologically exploitative Master's programs for some time; I do wish they'd focused on even more programs

wsj.com/articles/finan…

The numbers are higher at Columbia, but the scam — and yes, I think it's a scam — is the same at so many schools, public, private, Ivy, for-profit. Master's programs are *massive* money makers

If the people running these programs don't know that they're exploitative, they're telling themselves very complex stories as to why they're not. In 99% of cases, an MA in Cinema Studies, or English, or "Liberal Arts" does nothing for your job prospects. It only gives you debt.

And the program that everyone whispers about as the most exploitative of students with nebulous grad school dreams isn't mentioned. Ugh, I think I have to write about this, thank you WSJ for the kick in the pants

If you were recruited by or participated in an MA, MFA, or other Master's Program that, in hindsight, was operating in a predatory manner as described above — no matter the school or discipline — I'd love to hear more. Email in bio; put 'grad school' in the subject line

There's a lot of rhetorical gymnastics that programs use in order to convince students & faculty that they're not predatory. But a terminal MA with no funding, no funnel into the industry, & graduates end up huge debt but rarely working in their field? Predatory.

A program that specifically targets people who didn't get into a Humanities PhD at their school, or med school, or law school, with no funding, massive debt load, and vague promises that it'll make them a better candidate? Predatory

A few examples of predatory programs dressed up in prestige:

Masters in "Medical Sciences"

The Notorious

If you're paywalled out of the WSJ article, News Corp has chosen to reprint it in its entirety on Fox Business:

foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/fina…