Graduate school vs. Classical Atelier

[jbish74]

I've been speaking to a former undergrad professor recently about continuing my education. He's pushing me in the direction of a classical painting Atelier, rather than Grad school. He believes the advantages are :
-more focus on actual Painting, where as in the university system there is a curriculum to follow that covers a broad spectrum of studies-philosophy, art seminar, history etc.(BUT i know these are important concepts! and they're surly a part of any atelier...but from what I've read the act of painting is first and foremost.
-Provides a great foundation in classical understanding of landscapes and the figure
-The cost. He thinks Grad school will put me too far in debt. But I'm not certain the other won't either. I haven't been able to find prices, but I can't imagine an Atelier is a whole lot cheaper..depends on many things I suppose.


As you can see He's lost a lot of faith in the Universities..and I understand entirely

Here are my questions:
-As I said, cost?
-Is there some sort of degree or certificate upon completion? I want an MFA on my record, what's an atelier award? Where will it get me? I've had a bit of interest in teaching art, I doubt I could w/the atelier route?

A lot of this comes down to my own decisions on what I want to do with my life, so I don't expect to find all the answers on these forums..but, does anyone have any experience or info on this topic? Any Atelier students?