Need some serious life advice?

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I'm starting to question what is more important to me :
attending a college I hate but for a training that will help me get work in my low-paying passion, or,
a college experience I love + a stable career in something I'm not quite passionate about

I go to a crummy little school in the middle of nowhere that has an unbelievable acting program and has been churning out a lot of Broadway talent and the like for the past few years. The training is unbeatable, and I'm seriously in constant disbelief at how low the tuition is. I've always said I would prefer ending up a on the poor side as long as I like the work I get, and I'm well on my way there. This wasn't some whim career choice, and I know I have talent to get steady enough work in the long run. I was accepted to some of the top acting programs in the nation - but this one was the cheapest. But I hate the school. I can't stand the people. The academic education is terrible (a 2.5 GPA minimum for admittance outside of my department) and the people...not so bright. The campus sucks. The geographic location sucks. I don't feel like I'm at college, and I've always looked forward to attending a top university as i love academics so much.
I'm also afraid of the career instability. Maybe I should drop to a BA rather than BFA (a lighter study load typically...also weaker training), transfer, and double major in arts management or something?
I worked my butt of to get into NYU, but when I did, I couldn't afford it. Advice? Please??

All things considered, I would stay where you are. It's only temporary.

There must be some bright people where you are--how else are people getting Broadway gigs after their training at your school?

You could one of those actors who are "churned" into Broadway, etc, through your Fine Arts training. I would continue to pursue the BFA, rather than a BA.

If I were you, I'd stick with it.

If a truly "academic" experience is what you consider "a college experience you love", you probably aren't going to find that at the undergrad level unless you go to a super top flight school that costs $60K a year and is populated with 95% fiercely competitive douchebags who are 100% convinced they are smarter than everyone else.

I'd run with what you love for now, and if it doesn't end up fulfilling you in the long run, at least you'll be well positioned to go to grad school in the future if you so choose, which in my experience is a much better place to find an enriching academic experience to begin with.

As someone who is going to a great school for acting and theatre in about two weeks, I'd say stay where you are. In our line of work, the more skilled you are the better. You won't be there forever and the things you'll walk away with will be monumental assets to you when going to an audition.

As for the BA and BFA, since you already started the BFA, I say finish it. In my understanding, a BFA is STRICTLY the performing aspect of theatre, while a BA teaches you about ALL elements of theatre, from acting to set design to scriptwriting, to directing to all other things in between. I'll be going for a BA since in my particular educational scenario, it would be the best for me since I got an AA in theatre from my Community College and I would have to take most if not all of those classes again if I went for a BFA. My theatre professor, who has been doing this for 40+ years so I trust his opinion, says that if you have been trained at a well known and reputable school, it won't really matter in the end if you have a BA and BFA.

Break a leg in your studies!