If people pursue arts degrees out of a drive for community, craft, risk, audience, and knowledge, then how might we meet these needs and desires together, for a lifetime, not only 2-4 years? Imagine that this September, instead of matriculating at a traditional 4-year school, prospective freshmen and first-year MFA students pool the money they would otherwise spend on tuition. The class of 2018 (around 100,000 students paying $25,576 on average) would have $2,157,600,000 to work with.* If only 1/2000th of the class of 2018 pools money, say if only fifty prospective students band together, this group would have $1,078,800 to work with. That is enough to buy a building and own it collectively, into perpetuity, to create a lifelong school and community land trust. Applications for such a lifelong school will open on January 1, 2014. To inquire about this school in advance, please email info@bfamfaphd.com.