The dreams lost to college debt

College costs freak out almost every family, but the way some make peace with them -- or rationalize them -- is to view them as an investment that will pay off with higher salaries down the road.

But not every profession worth entering comes with the likelihood of high salaries.

The average undergraduate debt -- $19,000 -- seems burdensome but not utterly daunting if you have a great resume and enter a field such as business or engineering. Young people entering medicine or law can take on six-figure debt and still probably manage to sleep nights.

But what if your heart pulls you toward social work, early childhood education or the clergy?

A story in the Tennessean points out that the average student-loan debt for new pastors in 2001 was $25,000 -- up from $11,000 a decade earlier. According to a study by the Auburn Theological Seminary, that will increase to $54,000 by 2011 with 84 percent of all seminary students having to borrow money.

Even people who see their work as a mission, or a humanitarian contribution, must wonder how they can assume such debt with no high salary waiting at the middle -- or end -- of the professional pipeline.

Some second-guess their decision to enter the field. Others follow their heart and make financial sacrifices. Others may compromise their effectiveness by working multiple jobs to pay off their debt.

We all suffer when dedicated people are forced to abandon or curtail their life's work because of the high cost of an education.