5 of the lowest-earning jobs that require an advanced degree

It's sort of like one of those social media photo series that asks, "So, you think you had a bad day at work?" and goes on to show images of people who feed alligators and smell armpits for a paycheck.

Any reasonable recent graduate might wonder if college is worth it, given the jobs that are available for their degree and the student debt piling up for millennials and Gen Zers. But what about those who went to school for two or three times as long, earned a doctorate and are still making half or a third what other doctors do?

There's a decent chance that you make more than some of those doctors, even if you're not at the top of your field and your dream career is still a dream. (Something to remember for the next time your mom is encouraging you to find a nice doctor to date.)

Surgeons? Yeah, they're still going to earn more than $200,000, and seven other doctoral and professional-degree jobs in places of honor on the Georgia's Hot Careers to 2020 list have substantial earning power.

But there are jobs that require doctorates that earn half or even a third of that, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projections. That could be a pick-me-up the next time you have a bad day at the job that only required four years of college.

Here are five examples of jobs that require a doctorate or professional degree but don't pay the big bucks:

School psychologists, elementary and secondary schools

Median 2017 salary: $77,430

Chiropractors

Median 2017 salary: $68,640

Social work teachers, post secondary

Median 2017 salarty: $66,940

Social science teachers, post secondary

Median 2017 salary: $64,480

Judicial law clerks

Median 2017 salary: $51,330