<prompt> Human: Hello rpersonalfinance,I apologize in advance if this seems like a redundant post topic and for the great length of the post, but I have not seen any posts with debt as high as what I am looking at. I am way in over my head, financially. I am attending American University in Washington, D.C as a first year student, although this is my first semester. I have 35 credits so far which is helping speed up the process of graduating, but I am still looking at 4-5 years of school in order to graduate with my undergradmasters through an accelerated masters program. I am majoring in International Affairs if that matters. I spoke with the Financial Aid office yesterday and here are my numbers for one semester:Roomboard - 4,663Tuition - 19,491Other fees - 258.50-5,445 in subsidized and unsubsidized federal loansTotal Cost - 20,682.50I received no aid from my FASFA other than the loans. My parents make 109,000 annually and they have around 35,000 saved up for me I know, they are extremely generous and I am very lucky to have this. However, I am still looking at around 41,241 every year. Assuming I attend for five years, that is 192,000 in debt. I am sure they will help with what they can, but I would hate to be a burden. That number does not take into account any scholarships I may win trust me, I am applying but I feel like all of the scholarships I get will be a drop in the bucket. I am also applying to a couple jobs on campus that pay 9hour which is decent, I think.The reason I chose AU was because of their great internship program and career placement. I feel conservatively confident that I can get a decent job coming out of the school but I dont know if it is worth that much debt. Should I transfer? Stay here? Any advice on where I should get my loans?I apologize again for the length of this post and sporadic points but I almost feel like I made the wrong decision coming to AU no matter how good of a school it is. I really appreciate any helpadvice anybody has to offer. Thank you so much in advance.  <response>: If you are hell bent on working for an NGO or Dept of State as a Foreign Affairs officer, I would stick to the program and school...only if you are absolutely sold on the idea. DC can be an incredibly exciting but expensive city to live in but if you are committed to working in that field, the contacts and internship experiences will be invaluable, probably more valuable than the degree itself. As someone who went to school for foreign affairs and actually has a job the degree can be incredibly exciting to take but very difficult to find a job afterwards. You are already doing the right thing by taking the masters program as well as going to AU. Id recommend taking every chance for a scholarship now. Looking at a part time job as well as internships with DoSThe HillNGOs and looking into fellowship programs that these agencies offer. If you know the requirements now, you can work to secure yourself a great position upon graduation. EDIT: I forgot to mention that DoS and many positions with the United States Government allows for loan forgiveness after a certain period of time. A lot of jobs also will pay a stipend directly to your loan servicer. In my case it is 500 a month. Finally, if you are serious about a foreign affairs job, the Peace Corp is a golden ticket to a job afterwards and there are numerous options available to covering debtpaying for education to those graduates. 