Educating Artists An Analysis of the Educational Backgrounds of Working Artists and the Labour Market Activities of Arts Program Graduates in Canada

Limited overlap between visual and performing arts graduates and working as an artist (NHS, 2011) One of the key findings of a recent American report (Artists Report Back: A National Study on the Lives of Art Graduates and Working Artists) was a "surprising" lack of overlap between working artists and arts graduates. [...] In Ontario, the four western provinces, and the three territories, the percentage of arts and communications graduates was similar to the percentage of all graduates. [...] For those graduates who had borrowed money from any source for their post-secondary education, the debt load of arts and communications graduates at the time of their graduation in 2009/10 was fairly similar to the debt load of other graduates: • 17% of arts and communications graduates (compared with 21% of all graduates) had no debt load at graduation. [...] The reputation of the post-secondary institution and the specific program were the next most important factors among arts and communications graduates: • 91% of arts and communications graduates indicated that the reputation of the institution was a very or somewhat important reason in their choice of program (compared with 90% of humanities graduates and 91% of all graduates). [...] Funding sources and debt loads of arts and communications graduates As shown in Figure 6, parents (reported by 65% of graduates), employment savings (64%), and personal savings (59%) were the most common sources of funding for the post-secondary education of arts and communications students who graduated in 2009/10.