As secondary education becomes increasingly common, so has the number of PhD recipients relying on food stamps. Last year alone, one in six Americans, nearly fifty thousand people, received food stamps. According the to the US census, over the past three years the number of people with PhDs on food stamps has more than tripled. Many believe this number to be much larger, as this is only the amount officially reported. With the economic downturn, many chose to pursue secondary education before entering the workplace, but PhD recipients are often buried under student debt, with an average amount ranging anywhere between thirty and one-hundred-and-twenty thousand dollars. Unfortunately, this seemingly unlikely pairing has become all too frequent.