Given the salaries offered by most colleges and universities, it would be a very good idea to avoid racking up a huge debt in graduate school if you are shooting for a career in academia.  The easiest way to do so, of course, is to avoid paying for your education.  That can be done by securing scholarships, grants and/or stipends. 

One of the most important factors in distributing scholarships, grants, stipends and other forms of financial aid is the GRE.  Doing very well on the GRE could spell the difference between years and years of student loan payments after graduation and graduating debt-free.  Of course, if the school you go to lacks the means to provide generous financial assistance, even a perfect GRE score will be of little avail.  Although no one goes into philosophy for the money, the level of financial aid offered by a school should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to accept its offer of admission.

Fortunately, even if a school cannot afford to offer its graduate students generous funding, you might still be able to secure funding from an outside source.  A considerable number of individuals and associations are committed to helping graduate students pay for their education.  For more information, see: www.petersons.com/education_planner/ and www.theprincetonreview.com