Bargain Basement University

Bargain Basement University provides a service sought worldwide: a quick and easy Bachelor of the Arts program, conveniently located around Fort Fringe, by which I mean it provides a brutally honest look at the current state of higher education.

The stand, resembling an apple cart on a pair of bicycle wheels, bears a screen printer and a curious pinboard on the front, where business cards, flyers, and scraps of paper from dozens of different origins are hung.

“All that we ask in exchange for your degree,” the host, Madeleine Cutrona, explains, “is that you give us something on your person. If you don’t have anything, you can roll the dice and see if you qualify for a loan.”

The loan dice are large wooden blocks, and provide a subtle metaphor, that getting a loan in today’s economy is more based on chance than merit.

Myself, I opted to trade a business card for the screen printed degree, one that Cutrona promised would be extremely useful to my future endeavors.

The degree title? The Degree of Bachelor of Arts in an Area of Specialized Study Designed to Obtain Money but May or May Not Do So.

Take me to the DCTS 2014 Capital Fringe Guide