The state of education funding in America is pretty bad. New Zealanders have it a lot better. They get really inexpensive tuition and a weekly student living allowance. Being a foreigner, I have to pay 4 times the cost that a domestic student has to pay. Even so, after the exchange rate my entire course costs only a few thousand dollars more than one semester at Boston University. Unbelievable.
But I had most of my undergrad covered through scholarship and financial aid (thankfully, because I never would have gone otherwise). But I did take out loans for room and board and other expenses. So here is the breakdown of why I am in so much debt.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkImTvUwNjtmq68iJT249LqeAEiyQzA0eCpGZ86-cvqf_mbHXH_Asz4xfSK2ufIAtYhhIJe87xyT79PnQx5YQ-iNDmuA525sO_3ac1odazdAI3lY1P3iWbinSGSjjiCARu-a2kAw/s400/Picture+1.png)
If you are interested, Other Debt is my car back home. There is under $500 left to pay on my auto loan, and it accounts for less than 1% of my total debt.