[dahart]

While there certainly is variation in the outcomes of people by degree, you would want to compare arts majors with degrees to artists without degrees, not compare artists to engineers. You might still find that the degree-holding artists are quite a bit better off than the artists who stopped formal education after high school.

> arts majors living off government money

What does this have to do with anything? There are lots of scientists, engineers, lawyers, construction workers, and basically every job under the sun being paid by government money. If you’re talking about financial outcomes, a job is a job, and govt vs private is irrelevant, right?

[alphanullmeric]

Scientists, engineers, lawyers and construction workers get paid for providing a useful service to the government. The government is not contracting artists to make paintings, it’s paying them with no strings attached because nobody else will.