ResurgamJane

I aspire to work in international development, preferably with South Asian focus. I have been accepted to: MPA at Columbia SIPA: no scholarship MPP at Hertie: 25% tuition waiver MPP at Duke Sanford: 27.5K USD per semester scholarship MPP at GWU: I like Columbia SIPA the most out of these options. While I am fortunate to be able to self-finance about 50K USD, SIPA will leave me 55K USD in debt (excluding accrued interest). I am trying to gauge if SIPA is worth this much debt. Regardless of which offer I accept, getting a loan is inevitable. Some considerations: My priority is to be able to pay back the loan as soon as possible. So I am also exploring financing options. So far, it seems a loan in my country of residence (India) would make better sense than in USA due to the currency conversion rate. Any better insights on this would help a lot. It seems to be able to repay the loan I would need to stay back after finishing my studies to earn back the money 😕 But I wish to return to India and work here in the (not so) foreseeable future. Honestly, I am quite clear that I like SIPA (in and of itself, not just in relation to the other colleges). However, the financial barrier is too high. Therefore, insights on whether education at SIPA justifies the finances involved will help me a lot.