The Gathering Storm: The Educational Debt of Theological Students

This issue on the educational debt of theological students revisits a topic first studied ten years ago by the Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education. The 1995 report found that debt was indeed becoming a problem for a significant, although small, proportion of students. A majority of students now carry educational debt, and they are borrowing larger amounts than in the past. As a result, many theological school graduates report that their level of debt is affecting their career choices, holding them back from purchasing homes, preventing them from saving for their children’s education, limiting their retirement savings, causing them to delay health care needs, and creating stress in their personal and professional lives. Some students, schools, denominations and congregations have, in response to the signs of impending trouble, found ways to keep debt under control. All resources of the church—educational, institutional, theological, financial—need to be brought to bear to avoid the gathering storm of debt that threatens the next generation of clergy and lay church professionals. (From the Publisher)