I think when it's a viable option, go for it. My frustration is mostly directed at my roommate, who just got her Master's in Communications, has the aforementioned 200k of student loan debt, and is determined to go on to get her doctorate in Communications despite the fact that she was turned down from every one of the 10 grad schools to which she applied (an astronomical number and cost when you consider application & transcript fees). She now plans to take a year off, teach or something - probably making about $20k for that year if she does teach because she will be an adjunct - retake her GREs (more $$), and reapply to schools (even more $$) that will not fully fund her schooling (more and more and more $$$$$$) and then after that she is determined she will get a full-time, tenure track job in Communications when every article out there that you read about academia warns would-be professors that calling the tenure-track job market "slim" is being kind. The most memorable article I read on the subject crunched the numbers and concluded it was more likely for a kid to become an MBA star than a tenured professor. And she's trying to do it all...in the Communications field, which strikes me as a field that probably has extremely low demand for professors. I have a friend who's getting a doctorate in some kind of biology at Harvard. I don't know that much about biology, he worked on this in undergrad, maybe you would find it interesting. I know he's got publications out there but I can't find any; I don't have access to the big publication databases any more, not here. Idea of this is that STEM fields seem to have actual options that pay actual money post-grad degrees. He can keep on doing his research. There's interest in it. He's discovering new things...that maybe companies will turn around and incorporate into the industry at some point. If you don't have to work in the industry and can do something you love, by all means go for it. But I see a lot of people like my roommate who fight the industry while going hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt to pursue a dream that is not going to reap the paybacks she will need. It's frustrating because I feel like they rebel against the industry without having any real reason besides "it's not what I love." YOu can't pay student loans like hers based off of jobs that don't exist.