Canon Live Learning Vs. a For-Profit College

****I have not attended the Canon Live Learning workshops.  However, the price alone tells me that you will save tons of time and money and probably learn a lot more in one of their 4 hour sessions than any of my classes I attended at for-profit college I attended.***

Look at the prices for the classes at Canon in San Francisco:  http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/live_learning/cll_sanfran/canon_live_learning_san_francisco.shtml

The group classes are $49 for a 4 hour session.  A photography class when I attended The Art Institute of Las Vegas was about $131 for a 4 hour session.

However, a good portion of most classes at The Art Institute were spent critiquing.  How much does a critiquing class cost at Canon Live Learning at San Francisco?  Look at the arrows in this screen capture:

(In case you can't see the arrows, a three hour group critique session costs free)

 

Not only do you get one of Canon's instructors and your peers to view and critique 3 of your images for free, but you get to select one to have it professionally printed for free.  And you get a free canon notebook and pen!

 

So why are people who want to learn photography willing to pay over $100,000 and waste 3 years of their life over spending a few weeks and under $1,000 probably learning just as much?  Well, probably because they don't know and we are forced to believe that you will be nothing without a college degree :)  

 

I'm 100% sure that when you show up to one of the Canon Live Learning classes the instructor won't say, "Do your homework."  No joke, I heard that plenty of times during my time at the college I attended.

If you want 1 on 1 time with one of their instructors, that will cost you $99.  That's cheaper than at the Art Institute as well, where "Independent Study" courses cost about $131 as well, and that time could be spent with other students too.

 

(One of the many Destinations Canon Live Learning offers)

 

Canon also offers Destination courses.  Most of these courses range from $1,000 - $2,000, however there was one listed for $5,900 (to shoot brown bears in Alaska!)  There is a wide variety of destinations to choose.  From what I experienced at The Art Institute, most "field trips" are to studios, scouting events, and the same places (in Vegas it was Springs Preserve, The Strip, and Downtown Las Vegas).

 

These destination courses also included "Canon gear loans - bodies and lenses."  Does this cost extra?  I have sent an email to them to find out and will post as soon as I get an update.

 

I hope that if you are looking at a For-Profit college, you do plenty of research on the "school" that you are looking at attending.  I'm pretty sure that there are many other better options for what you want, and you probably can learn just as much off of Youtube.  With art, it is all about your drive and experience.  You don't need someone teaching you and telling you that you need them.  Get out there and grind instead of sitting in extremely overpriced classrooms!