Hello all. Long time lurker, first time poster. So I hope this is the right place for this. First some background, My undergraduate degree is in French with International Studies/Linguistics minors. I've been teaching English in China for a couple years now and have become quite proficient with the language. While I would love to get into top level programs around the country and work on Chinese/American relations, I'm a realist and know that I don't have the undergraduate grades/connections/proper background for such things and I'm perfectly alright with that. However, during my undergraduate senior year I had a pretty life changing 7 month experience helping Congolese refugees coming into my town. We helped them with everything they needed: applying for services, interpretation, how to recognize and properly handle blatant racism from coworkers, etc. You name it, we were there. Teaching abroad is great, but it's really not the career that's for me and based off my aforementioned experience I would like to get into NGO/INGO work. It's really the only thing I've done that left me with a feeling like I was really making a difference. Money isn't incredibly important to me. As long as I have an apartment and decent air conditioning, I'm content. I've got a comfortable gig working for a uni in China. My undergrad debt will be finished before Christmas and I'm now looking to start grad school in the Spring. I'm hoping to be able to do the degree from here in China to avoid further loans and so am largely looking at online/distance programs to help me break into the field. Looking at my background, NGOs that bring education to those in need are pretty high on my list (UNESCO would be a dream.) Working at home (USA) or abroad would both work for me (though I'm hoping the languages I speak could define my career geographically speaking.) Program wise, there are two universities I'm looking at, Webster University for IR vs University of York for an MPA with an emphasis on International Development. An MA in IR sounds incredibly interesting, but looking at the course requirements I feel like I'd graduate and have no actual skills to provide a company/NGO. Because of this, the MPA seems like the smartest route, but would it being from the UK hurt or help me? I'm aware of how difficult it is to break into a field like this and I'm alright with sending off job apps for some long months. For someone who is trilingual, has administrative skills, isn't primarily concerned with money, and just wants to help people, it shouldn't be impossible to get a job, right? Let me know if this post would be more appropriate in a different forum. I'm just looking for some advice. I'm a first gen student, so my family isn't able to offer much in the way of advice. tt;dr - MPA-ID vs MA IR for a guy who wants to break into the NGO field and help educate those in need?