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How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

bbc.co.uk

11–20 of 101 posts

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#11
post #10

Perhaps we should send more kids to Europe for schooling to see how a civil society lives, then bring them back after graduating to fix the problems with America. win/win :)

Europeans have their own sets of problems ,believe me, don't paint everything all black or all white. Granted almost free education is something great.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#12
post #10

Perhaps we should send more kids to Europe for schooling to see how a civil society lives, then bring them back after graduating to fix the problems with America. win/win :)

The article ended with the students saying that they planned to stay in Germany - they didn't want to go back to a country like the US where their children might be bankrupted paying for their education.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#13
post #5
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh man. 30-100€ per semester and not literally 0€ per semester? I feel so misled and cheated by that clickbait title. Do people have no shame?

But it includes a public transit pass as well :)

And an even better insurance against accidents for when you actually are at the university. It also covers travel to and from anything you do there. Oh, and we're funding the student council with a few euros as well.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#14
Truly shocking they haven't discovered "out of country tuition". That is the big scam here in the US, most of the state schools have out of state fee's that are 2x-5x as high as the instate ones. The excuse of course is saving money and how the students parents don't pay taxes (ignoring they pay taxes elsewhere).

The best part of course, is the lame/insane rules they come up with to determine if your instate or out of state. Mostly because in the US just having a utility bill from a rental or what not is enough to transfer a drivers license/residency. Amusingly enough, most of these states actually require in state vehicle registrations for said students in order to get the tax money...

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#15
post #3

"To cover rent, mandatory health insurance and other expenses, Hunter's mother sends him between $6,000-7,000 each year." That's actually a little bit low for Munich. I think two or three times that would be more realistic to cover living expenses.

If you get one of the many student jobs for 10 hours a week, you can pretty much double that.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#16
post #10

Perhaps we should send more kids to Europe for schooling to see how a civil society lives, then bring them back after graduating to fix the problems with America. win/win :)

Europeans have their own sets of problems ,believe me, don't paint everything all black or all white. Granted almost free education is something great.

> Europeans have their own sets of problems ,believe me,

Yes, and arguably 50 different sets of problems.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#18
post #2

To spare people the click after that dumb clickbait title: Germany only requires tuition fees of ~30-100€ per semester* from any student, regardless country of origin. * For administrative stuff and often includes public transit tickets. Also, previously (today even): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9656905

While you're obligated to pay it, none of that money actually goes to the university. It all goes to the student union and student services which are two legal bodies distinct from the university.

So the education is free, you're just paying for some of the services (transportation, meals, housing, etc.) around it.

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#19
post #7
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an anecdote, i live on €6000 in Munich. It's definitely the minimum, but possible when living in university accommodation & and cooking your own food.

Impressive :-) Actually I started out with 500€/month in Munich, but that was 22 years ago. And I ended up doing side jobs. Prices must have gotten up since then.

[deleted]

Re: How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

#20
post #4
post #2

To spare people the click after that dumb clickbait title: Germany only requires tuition fees of ~30-100€ per semester* from any student, regardless country of origin. * For administrative stuff and often includes public transit tickets. Also, previously (today even): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9656905

Oh man. 30-100€ per semester and not literally 0€ per semester? I feel so misled and cheated by that clickbait title. Do people have no shame?

I don't think Mithaldu was simply being pedantic about the word "free".
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