I may be in a unique position to give advice. I have two very good friends who are both artists. One is successful, very successful, the other is not, but should be.
Friend A = traditional drawing, comics, 2d animation
Friend B = traditional drawing, comics, 3d animation
Friend A: was an animator on a popular but horribly animated (on purpose I might add) Canadian show called Kevin Spencer. This guy can pull off an identical replica of a Todd McFarlane Spidey or a Jim Lee Wolverine. He just looks once, then draws. Absolute insanity. He took animation in school figuring it would be his best bet to use his skills and make some money. He found a job doing work for Kevin Spencer, 1500/week clear. Great money for a guy in his late 20's. Then the show was cancelled, he could not find any work at all, no where. Disney had closed up their 2D shoppe, others were following, few major studios were remaining in this genre and the well was drying up super fast. He didn't just stick with 2D, he tried his luck at numerous jobs in the art world including submitting works to various galleries around Canada. He sold some prints and some originals but basically made enough just to pay off the loans he had taken from friends and family. In the end, he knew that he needed something more concrete if he was to contribute to his marriage and child. He went back to school, became a special ed teacher and now does the art thing at night and on weekends. In Canada, teachers work about 9 months of the year, so that leaves a good chunk of free time to do the art thing. Best though? He has a paycheck every 2 weeks, benefits etc. He is unionized and he is set for life. If the art thing never works out, he knows he is safe. He gave it his best shot, teachers and people in the art world say he is a phenomenon, but he is a middle school teacher working in a small city now. Remeber, some of the most famous artists of all time were only famous after they died. They were poppers their entire life, sometimes starving for their art.
Friend B: Another gifted artist, can do the "mimic an artist" routine but it takes more time. He too went to "art school" this time taking his skills and going into 3d animation. This stuff is hot right now and he is pulling down 6 figures and it doesn't look like that is going to stop any time soon. He desperately wants to work for Marvel or DC but they keep turning him down, even though he works for a top 3d studio and has done work for Pixar. It is not like this guy is just a nobody, nor that his art isn't top notch, but people in the biz don't necessarily WANT top notch all the time. At least not in the comic world. Friend B lives out his life then, dreaming about doing a different type of art, but at least making big bucks in an artistic field, albeit heavily helped out by comps.
The jist is that both are extremely talented, both even had their foot in the door and made it work for a time, but 1 of the 2, the better one, was not in the "hot art" of the moment and could not jeapordize his future to an extent that would start jeapordizing his family.
Realizing you are young, unmarried, no kids (assumptions but seems reasonable) these won't affect you now, but what if you make a go of it, and it doesn't pan out. You find that special someone you get married, have some kids and still try to make it work. But it doesn't. A kid is sicker than hoped, and medical bills are climbing. Your job doesn't have the benefits to cover it, and you sure don't make enough to pay the difference. Your wife does what she can, but she is juggling the more secure and higher paying job with being with your child. You need to find something better. You won't need to give up art for life, but right now, your family needs you. So you go look for something better, but the bottom line is...they want to see some letters. It doesn't matter which ones, but they want to note a degree somewhere on the resume of yours. They don't see it, and you don't get the job.
For 2-2.5 years of your life (and really, you don't go to school during the summer, so we are talking what? 20 months total left? Maybe less? You have that piece of paper. Once you graduate you can do whatever you want. No one is saying you have to get that job, or find a job or anything of the sort. But getting security now is worth more than investing 2 extra years into something you might be able to invest your entire life in. If art is your passion, and you have a successful future in it, it will happen, even after the 2 years. Someone might mention you could miss your big break, but then someone else could respond you will never get a big break. Chance plays a huge role in the art world and VERY few make it big ever.
Knowing these two friends, knowing how they lived before they decided to go to college and focus their skills enough to find a job in their field and meeting their friends who were artists, and now seeing of the two out of the field because he just can't get the work...it makes me see it from a different light than "just go for it."
I was able to play a good many jazz clubs during my earlier years of university. It paid a good many bills. I would love to be a professional saxophonist but the reality is...few can make it work, most are doing this on the weekends or as a second job, not as a primary. It was a reality I faced and chose to go another way. This doesn't mean I would not have made it, nor that I still can't, but I know at the end of the day, if I won't or if I can't, I still have something to fall back on so my kids can be fed.
Follow your heart and dreams no doubt, just be smart about it. Invest now in the means that will permit you the flexibility to pursue those dreams. A degree in hand lets you find a job that is usually higher paying with better benefits and better security. This provides you with a better foundation to hoan your art and make headway.
For those that feel a degree locks you into a given field, most of the time this is not so. Take Microsoft. For most positions one can't get hired without a degree. One can hold a BA in African Religious studies and get hired if one demonstrates an aptitude for programming/development/testing. In fact, quite a few folks in teams I am familiar with personally have biology and biochemistry degrees yet they are working in the security division or the SQL Server division.
You have an opportunity many beg for. You are nearly halfway complete, stick it out, heck, just do three years and you are more than one third the way there! In the end, those letters (BA) will be more beneficial to you given the open doors that you will be presented with vs. the closed doors that are slammed in your face without them.
