Who pays for Protestant seminary education for aspiring ministers? Not a tough question, just something I never knew or understood about Protestantism.  I'm a Catholic, and in my diocese post-baccalaureate seminary education is subsidized by collections taken.  It's one of the largest places we put our money.  I've heard that if you don't make it to the priesthood in seminary that you've got to pay back the expense of your education, but if you do, then it's all paid for (which makes sense because priestly vows more or less prohibit other means of paying it back). 

But for Protestants, this doesn't seem to be the case and I'd like to know how an average pastor manages to pay off his or her debt.  I was surprised when a friend of mine told me that his pastor was fresh out of college, with just a bachelors degree, but it would seem to make a bit more sense to preach your way through graduate school, if you need to go to it at all since tuition has been crazy expensive for the last couple of decades. 

If "Protestant" is too broad for this question, I can limit it to protestants similar to non-Evangelical Lutherans.
In Baptist circles, seminary is just like college for secular students. The student pays for his or her own tuition.  (O.K. for Pastors in conservative Baptist Churches I may as well just say "his own tuition".)  

As an example... In my neck of the woods, most Baptist pastors-to-be attend Maranatha Bible College.  their tuition and costs page is found here, explaining what a student needs to know.

And just like secular schools, there are scholarship and financial aid options available.