I am currently a second year PRGS student and I can give you my perspective on your questions.
1) As of right now I have no debt. The program requires that you work a certain number of hours in order to maintain your fellowship. It is very similar to a TAship, but instead of teaching you work on projects.
2) Finding projects depends completely on each fellow and their interests. I think it is possible for someone not to have any projects, but it would have to be a person that is not open to working on issues that are on the periphery of their interests.
3) I agree. The employment market is different for a PhD and an MBA. One thing I can tell you is that the majority of graduates opt not to follow an academic track (around 75%)
