Want to attend college for
free? It can happen if you learn German.
All German universities are now
free to Americans and all other international students. The last German state
to charge tuition at its universities struck down the fees this week.
Even before Germany abolished
college tuition for all students, the price was a steal. Typically semester
fees were around $630. What’s more, German students receive many perks
including discounts for food, clothing and events, as well as inexpensive or
even free transportation.
In explaining why Germany made
this move, Dorothee Stapelfeldt, a Hamburg senator, called tuition fees
“unjust” and added that “they discourage young people who do not have a
traditional academic family background from taking up study. It is a core task
of politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high quality
standard free of charge in Germany.”
Actually, German universities
were free up until 2006 when they started charging tuition. That triggered such
a crush of criticism that German states began phasing out this policy. Lower
Saxony was the last holdout.
It’s too bad that politicians
in the U.S. don’t feel that a college education is worth supporting
appropriately. State aid to the nation’s public universities took a nosedive
during the 2008 recession and education funding remains well below those levels.
The average state is spending 23 percent less per student than before the
recession, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Actually, state support has
been declining for public universities for a quarter of a century. Using an
interactive tool from The Chronicle of Higher Education, you can see how state
government subsidies have cratered at individual institutions.
With the average undergrad
borrower now leaving school with more than $29,000 in debt, the free ride in
Germany can look awfully tempting.
How to handle the language
barrier
German is not an easy language
to learn. Fortunately, however, there are international language programs in
Germany, which have become very popular with international students before they
tackle obtaining a degree in a different language.
What’s more, an increasing
number of German universities are offering degrees in English. These are often
called international studies programs or in some other way have the word
international in their title.
