Also, in response to poorstudent I wouldn't say that MFA's are pure money generating machines. If anything it's the undergrad programs which generate the money to pay for the grad programs. We were told at an orientation that each grad student at Yale painting costs over 100,000 dollars per year, (or maybe it was that amount over two years) either way the tuition (which is exorbitant) doesn't even come close to the cost. I agree with what others have said, poorstudent can use the grad program as a residency, but they are very different things, and going into a grad program you should expect and want your work to change, rather then a further refining of what you've already done... Use it anyway that works though, getting paid to work at this is a privilege either way.
Anyway, poorstudent, it was a thoughtful post, thanks (you did come off as a bit smug though)