I have a doctorate in English from a better state university (University of State_name). I worked with people well-known in my field. I have teaching awards, research awards, and publications. I'm willing to work anywhere in the US except places I can't afford (where I couldn't get hired anyway): San Francisco, NYC, etc. After searching for a job for four years, I ended up at a school in the deep South that's ranked near the bottom. I work with people who have doctorates from Brown, Purdue, Penn State, and the like. We earn, at the start $44-49k/yr. During the job search, I got quite a few interviews and would be enthusiastically supported by a few members of the committee, but would get beat out by someone a little better, or a little younger. I was lucky, though, and have always been a scholarship boy, so I don't have a crushing student loan debt, "only" $50k. But that debt is a significant burden for my family, and, without it, we would have been able to buy a house much earlier. (Also: I left out the part where I taught at a major research school for four years off the tenure track with 100-135 students a semester, half of them composition students, for $32k/yr, with only annual contracts. I worked between 55 and 60 hours a week during the semester. 40 in the summers, trying to get out publications and doing extra teaching so that we could afford to live in a f*cking shack.) So, yes, when anyone tells you "Be careful. Yes, do it for love, but for god's sake, consider the consequences!" You'd be wise to quit being a callow little Holden Snotfield and listen to what we're trying to tell you. Better yet, go look at the job market figures over at the MLA and AAUP websites. Don't be a chump.