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Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

insidehighered.com

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Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#11

Post by Semaphor »

erikb wrote: post #10

Funny. I took care of foreign students in my German university and they get exploited the hell out. At first they pay more than German students for the same semester, despite having worse chances to succeed (language barrier, culture barrier, fewer friends/family etc). Then they have to join preparation courses one way or another, because, you know, German isn't easy. Then they hardly get access to the public student…

None of those things happen at my University. It sounds like yours was simply extremely rotten.

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#12

Post by germanier »

erikb wrote: post #10

Funny. I took care of foreign students in my German university and they get exploited the hell out. At first they pay more than German students for the same semester, despite having worse chances to succeed (language barrier, culture barrier, fewer friends/family etc). Then they have to join preparation courses one way or another, because, you know, German isn't easy. Then they hardly get access to the public student…

Which university was this? Because in mine (HU) foreigners weren't treated any different.

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#13

Post by chrisseaton »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #9
yowkow wrote: post #2

Certainly laudable. How does one "stick around" after graduation - do you have to learn German?

do you have to learn German? Why wouldn't you want to? It's a lovely country, with a huge body of literature that you'd deprive yourself of if you refuse to learn the language. And why isolate yourself from the locals? Weird attitude, that.

They didn't say they didn't want to did they? You imagined that. It'd be fantastic to be able to learn the languages of all the countries you visit, but not everyone finds that easy do they.

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#14

Post by chrismealy »

FredrikMeyer wrote: post #5

It is the same situation in Norway. International students pay no tuition (and we have the same debate here whether to continue this situation...). On the other hand, living costs in Norway are quite high.

Are courses in Norwegian?

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#15

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

> in Germany, students -- on the whole -- famously pay no tuition fees, regardless of where they come from. Seen from the U.S. or Britain, this policy may appear either supremely principled or incredibly naïve

“Britain”? Do they perhaps mean England?

The other three nations of the United Kingdom have either free (Scotland) or vastly cheaper (Wales, Northern Ireland) university tuition fees.

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#16

Post by majewsky »

erikb wrote: post #10

Funny. I took care of foreign students in my German university and they get exploited the hell out. At first they pay more than German students for the same semester, despite having worse chances to succeed (language barrier, culture barrier, fewer friends/family etc). Then they have to join preparation courses one way or another, because, you know, German isn't easy. Then they hardly get access to the public student…

> Old dudes (teachers, profs, organizers) dating barely legal girls

I highly doubt that a lot of "barely legal girls" would be in universities since, in Germany, 16-year-olds are considered fully "legal" in that particular regard.

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#17

Post by louithethrid »

You grow them, we poach them, they build it, you buy it. What a nice little buisness model. Could be very historic soon.

I wonder if with youtube lectures and automated courseware- open source universitys could be errected in nearly any country. Finance the food, finance the healthcare and roof, and those students could study anywhere.

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#18

Post by nattmat »

chrismealy wrote: post #14
FredrikMeyer wrote: post #5

It is the same situation in Norway. International students pay no tuition (and we have the same debate here whether to continue this situation...). On the other hand, living costs in Norway are quite high.

Are courses in Norwegian?

None of the comp. sci. courses I have been to at least. Norwegian lecturers will usually ask if anyone does not speak Norwegian. This is at masters level at UiO; I am not sure about bachelor courses.

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#19

Post by microtonal »

erikb wrote: post #10

Funny. I took care of foreign students in my German university and they get exploited the hell out. At first they pay more than German students for the same semester, despite having worse chances to succeed (language barrier, culture barrier, fewer friends/family etc). Then they have to join preparation courses one way or another, because, you know, German isn't easy. Then they hardly get access to the public student…

I work as a researcher in a German university and also have 4h per week teaching obligation. Our program is international and in English, all students are treated equally. A significant part of the teaching staff is also not from Germany. I have never encountered the practices that you mention. If one of my students would describe the problems you mentioned (especially exploitation by university staff) I would encourage them to file a complaint with the university.

It is probably highly dependent on the university and program. If you are unsure, contact the study association ('Fachschaft') of the program and ask some foreign students about their experiences before applying.

Re: Why Germany Educates International Students for Free

#20

Post by r00fus »

erikb wrote: post #10

Funny. I took care of foreign students in my German university and they get exploited the hell out. At first they pay more than German students for the same semester, despite having worse chances to succeed (language barrier, culture barrier, fewer friends/family etc). Then they have to join preparation courses one way or another, because, you know, German isn't easy. Then they hardly get access to the public student…

Which University?
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