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Right - like I said, in spite of free tuition, many German students still have to take out loans to pay for their other expenses.
Still, it's just a small fraction of what Americans have to pay back on average. In the US the average debt per student is more than $30k at public (i.e. cheaper) universities alone. I think that is a major difference by the way, except for a few small colleges, all institutions of higher education in Germany are public. Private colleges and the elitist rip-off associated with them are all but missing.
Many German students don't even need Bafög as many parents can easily afford to pay such expenses for a couple of years. Not even one in three students receive Bafög because in the case of the remaining 70% of students their parents earn too much, and of course those are expected to pay for their children's education. In the US the numbers are inverted, there 70% of students are in debt.
Bafög is also granted to attendees of other types of schools, vocational training etc.
Under certain conditions, like if you finish your studies within the expected time frame, you only have to pay back a part of the Bafög received anyway.
For out-of-state and out-of-town students there are also lots of dorms where rent and food is cheap.
All in all, nobody in Germany can complain that they could not afford to attend school, university etc.
Still, it's just a small fraction of what Americans have to pay back on average. In the US the average debt per student is more than $30k at public (i.e. cheaper) universities alone. I think that is a major difference by the way, except for a few small colleges, all institutions of higher education in Germany are public. Private colleges and the elitist rip-off associated with them are all but missing.
$30k is really little money, you will break even that after 2-3 years of work as a professional with a degree compared to a non-degree worker.
I think Germany should at least introduce little tuition fees again, even it is just $1.000 per semester and $3.000 for non-EU people, to increase the quality and reduce public expenses, and what is more important create a committment among students for their studies. Education is not free in Germany, just other people pay for it. Many students are very lazy and can easily do a side job for earning the extra money.
$30k is really little money, you will break even that after 2-3 years of work as a professional with a degree compared to a non-degree worker.
I think Germany should at least introduce little tuition fees again, even it is just $1.000 per semester and $3.000 for non-EU people, to increase the quality and reduce public expenses, and what is more important create a committment among students for their studies. Education is not free in Germany, just other people pay for it. Many students are very lazy and can easily do a side job for earning the extra money.
Why? The system has worked fine as it is...
Education won't become better just because you pour more money on it. There is more than enough money.
Also, what goes around comes around. Today you pay for someone else's education and tomorrow someone else will pay for your kids' education. It's a give and take across generations.
Germany tried tuition fees years ago, but they were abandoned. There just was no point.
I think Slavic people are much colder even on the inside compared to Germans, Scandinavians and Anglo-saxons. They strike me as just as emotionless inside as they look. Think: Putin. While a German/Dutch might appear reserved, many of they have warm hearts. I am an empath, so I can sense when someone is truly cold/heartless or just shy/reserved/introverted.
And no I am not some Anglo-Saxon, Germanic or Scandinavian or Latin. I am Slavic so I grew up in this culture and I know most people have no feelings.
Most Slavic people (yes, even my fellow countrymen and women) to me register as cold entities, like robots incapable of emotions other than negative ones. they lack that certain spark of the Irish, Latin souls or the hidden fire of Germanics/Vikings the Scandinavians and Germanic speakers have.
I think of all the Germanic/Latin people's the coldest/soulless/heartless ones are the French and North Italians. they come of ass emotionally dead/incapable and empty/cold as Slavic people.
No one has ever offered me help in Prague or my home city Belgrade. In the Netherlands they did it even without me asking if I looked confused. Oh and most clerks/shopkeepers etc smiled.
Putin does not represent anyone. He has undergone secret service training, so what do you expect? You can't know what's inside of people, only what they show. Humans are the same across the globe, some cultures are more reserved than others, but on average we all feel the same things and to the same extent, no matter where we are from. We just differ in the way and extent we show it.
Why? The system has worked fine as it is...
Education won't become better just because you pour more money on it. There is more than enough money.
Also, what goes around comes around. Today you pay for someone else's education and tomorrow someone else will pay for your kids' education. It's a give and take across generations.
Germany tried tuition fees years ago, but they were abandoned. There just was no point.
I paid tuition fees for a couple of semesters and it didn't hurt. It was rather political/populist decision to abandon it again, even though they did make sense (even though they were too low).
Education won't become better? Lol. In Germany sometimes there are like 700 people sitting in the lecture room, it rather feels like a stadium. In the US we had a much more direct contact to our professors, groups of maximum 25-30 and much better technical equipment (financial trading rooms with 3-4 screens per students, etc.). Many university buildings are old and shabby, with offices that will not attract any high potential researchers. Money is lacking basically EVERYWHERE in education in Germany. Not enough teachers, not enough professors/assistants, not enough rooms. A professor I use to know told me that he will answer the requests of the university dean office up to 15. of February every year. After that time, the yearly money he got from the university management is gone and he has to pay his expenses with third party research contracts with companies. Something he is very good at, but this is certainly nothing to be proud of as a developed country.
Also I think the attitude of students towards education would be better with tuition fees. Higher committment, higher value of this education, and they will be quicker and avaliable for the jobmarket earlier.
Also I think the attitude of students towards education would be better with tuition fees. Higher committment, higher value of this education, and they will be quicker and avaliable for the jobmarket earlier.
Taking the US, which has tuition fees, as an example I'm not sure this would be the case.
There is no need for attracting top researchers as in Germany universities are not supposed to be institutions of top research, that is reserved for Max Planck etc.
That is also where the poor ratings of German universities come from. They are supposed to teach, but are compared to international universities that often get their funds from research and military clients.
And judging from the state of the economy there is no lack of qualified people such as engineers.
Overcrowded lecture rooms depend a lot on the field of study. History and such useless subjects are often overrun. In many cases the number of students dwindles fast as weak students drop out and opt for other types of education.
Other subjects are limited, though, you only get admitted with a certain minimum GPA.
Overcrowded lecture rooms depend a lot on the field of study. History and such useless subjects are often overrun. In many cases the number of students dwindles fast as weak students drop out and opt for other types of education.
So with tuition fees students would be demanded to do an profitability analysis before starting. Would help to reduce those issue.
Regarding top research, it is not that simple. Fraunhofer research center are often affiliated with universities and exchange staff and machinery. But also German universities by themselves do top research. It is a very sophisticated system with universities doing the basic resarch, Fraunhofer doing the rather techncial pre-commercial development.
Nothing is wrong with Germany. They're doing a pretty good job, both in terms of economics and social issues.
The real question is "What is wrong with the Trump cult and their obsession about claiming Europe is in ruins? Is it because they have no passports, have never traveled, and don't know a thing about the world"?
Yeah, but Germany still can't hold a candle to the US regarding social issues.
Yeah, but Germany still can't hold a candle to the US regarding social issues.
There are problems in Germany, agreed, but the Trump narrative re. Europe and Muslims is basically 100% absurd lies.
There are plenty of Trump cultists here in the U.S. who think Paris is under Shariah law and everything. It's bizarre. Europe is not even 5% Muslim and the vast majority are from places like Turkey, which aren't even that conservative or religious.
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