Higher education costs?

[vista20]

hi,
i'm law student in Europe and it is very frustrating when someone write that europen university are bad. I must learn at least 5-8 hours EVERY DAY. And i have few friends at american uniersities (Pfiffer at NC, and Dotrmounth) and they have way more free time than i have and we went into same high school so our knowledge is preety much the same. Plus at my university we have at least one foreign language and truth to be told i don't know many americans that speak more than one language. So even american universities are high ranked on some lists that doesn't matter very much. Someone said that if u want to pary u should go to study to Europe- well main reason why ppl are going to study to USA is that (so that they will have more free time). So don't talk rubbish that is not fair. I don't say that american universities are not good but they are not better than european eather. For me it was easier to get into some american uni than in mine.

[orangeapple]

Originally Posted by vista20

hi,
Plus at my university we have at least one foreign language and truth to be told i don't know many americans that speak more than one language..

Pretty much all Americans study a foreign language in school. We don't retain what we learn because we have nowhere to put it into practice & don't start young enough. Traveling outside the US is a privilege many are not able to come by. I think that's why not much emphasis is put on it. Although where I live, they were starting to teach Spanish younger than when they usually start most foreign language. I don't know if they are still doing that...

I've also heard that the US has the top universities, but of course our education up to college is sub-par. Sort of weird....
I also saw some list of the top rated universities in the world, and in the top 10 all but 2 were American.

[unsmicck]

40 out of the top 50 Universities in the world are here in the U.S. Too bad I don't go to one of them.

[hkgal]

I was a student in New Zealand and I recently worked out my arts degree has cost me about $15,000 NZD (around $12K US) which I paid for myself (no loan). There is probably no comparison between the quality of top-tier universities in the US and those in NZ which is so small there is barely any distinction between the best and the worst. My husband got his degrees at middle tier US universities and came away with a $80K debt and I find it unthinkable that many people are leaving university straddled with that sort of debt. On the other hand some of the in-state US tuition fees seem very reasonable and I think for most people a non-elite state school education is perfectly adequate.

One of the things I envy about the US system is the idea that you start off doing a general education before specialising. My husband attended a liberal arts college as an undergrad and had to study languages, english, arts, sciene etc before deciding a major. The way my system worked was you decided your major before you even left school which is a ridiculous proposition for a 16 year old, and most I know changed their major or even their degrees before finding something that suited them. A general education is vital for a well rounded graduate.

In addition, there are a lot more schloarship options in the US so those will particular talents may attend schools they may otherwise never get a look in. This system exists only to a very limited degree in NZ and Oz.

I see huge differences between the way asian (chinese in this case) students expect to learn and the way Western students expect to learn in a university environment. The major difference seems to be active participation. The chinese students, particularly those who have been educated in China, are rote-learners and are afraid to speak up lest they make a fool of themselves. It seems to be a deeply entrenched cultural norm. Westerners on the other hand will experiment with ideas and speak up and challenge their teachers because its the way we have been taught to learn.