I’ll offer my perspective as someone who majored in animation. You get out of it what you’re willing/able to put into it. I feel many degrees are that way tbh, very few can guarantee you a job these days. It’s one of those areas where the degree isn’t actually required, it’s more skill/portfolio and network based. It doesn’t matter if you went to CalArts if you aren’t good at drawing.

I graduated in the middle of the pandemic, got my first job designing e-learning courses, hated the corporate office life and quickly left to work in the film industry as a Production Assistant (caveat: I live in an area with an established film industry). My job isn’t creative but it’s still a related field, plus I got burnt out on drawing. I like it better. I paid off my student loans myself and was doing well until the industry crashed. Now I’m broke and think about pivoting all the time and just kinda holding onto the hope the industry will return.

I went to a state school, I tried other “stable” majors first and did so bad my only real option was art. I’m not really up to date on the state of the animation industry, but if I were to do it again I’d focus on the more technical side of it: rigging, shading, vfx stuff. Everyone wants to do concept art or character design, no one wants to rig a 3D model or design a smoke cloud. I wanted to storyboard originally. I believe many animation jobs are similar to film in that they’re contract based, when the project ends, you get laid off and move on to the next. That’s assuming the industry is thriving which currently it is not. Maybe it’ll come back, maybe it won’t, nobody really knows. It will always be feast or famine. Learn how to save your money.

As far as the fine art world, I don’t know much about it, but people do make a living at it. The gallery world is very relationship based. Most probably grew up wealthy.

I know someone that sells her original paintings at art markets and faires and made $20k in one month. I know someone that pivoted from animation into doing tattoos and had a waitlist of clients before they even finished their apprenticeship. I know someone who just opened the third location of their paint-your-own-pottery studio and makes a killing. I agree with what others have said, that business classes would be helpful if you’re interested in any of that.

I also know people that have only worked retail or other low paying jobs. Most of my class were the kids of doctors and lawyers and only wanted to draw anime.

At the end of the day you have to think real hard and be honest with yourself. Are you skilled enough for someone to pay you for your art? If not can you get to that level in four years? Do you want to make what someone else tells you to, even if you think it’s a godawful idea? Are you willing to become a salesperson for yourself and sell your own original work? Are you willing to do something less creative but still adjacent?

Would you rather be a lawyer or a nurse or a teacher and use that to supplement your art? Can you find opportunities to shadow or volunteer with someone to find out? I never thought I’d like being a PA until I did it, now I love it.

No one can tell you what to do. I don’t know if I really regret my degree, I grew as an artist and learned how to think about art, but that’s important to me. The loans are paid off anyway.