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How US students get a university degree for free in Germany

bbc.co.uk

31–40 of 101 posts

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

#31
post #17

There should also be an article on how Asian (Indians, Chinese, Filipino, etc) students get graduate degree for free in the USA. Thanks US for my free Masters and PHD ;)

ermm... elaborate a bit more on this? please?

In science and engineering, PhD students are typically paid a salary and have their tuition waived. This is mostly funded by the federal government though the NSF, DOE, DOD, etc.

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

#32
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

There is a lot more interesting stuff in the article than what you list. The title is central point of the article, I don't see why it's dumb.

By shaping it in the form of a question asking "how?", the author makes it seems as if there is anything of any substance to the how. The reader who does not know that it's simply free will assume that there is something special about the students, or something special they might need to do and clicks on the link to find out what that special thing is.

The bait is accepted, and the trap is sprung, ad impressions are achieved and the reader learns the banal truth:

There is nothing special to do or be beyond being human beings and educated enough to be accepted by a german school.

Stating outright in the title "All students get a university degree for free in Germany" would be honest and forthright, saving someone maybe a few minutes if they don't need to know anything more. But it is not used because it would result in less clicks for the author and less ad impressions.

It is clickbait.

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

#33
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for being the only one to understand that the word free was not what i was complaining about. The replies to my post have been both amusing and horrifying, and you are a shining light in a sea of shortsightedness. :)

Notice how both his, your initial and your second comment don't say anything else besides that the title is linkbait and that it says free where in fact you pay a very very small amount? You might have been complaining about something else besides free, but information about what would that be is totally absent from your comments.

Frankly, given the prevalence of clickbait on the internet in general, and the general savviness of the HM crowd, i did not even consider in the least that the nature of this clickbait could not be obvious to everyone. A bit of a mistake of mine.

I've explained that nature in a comment a little further up. :)

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

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a lot more interesting stuff in the article than what you list. The title is central point of the article, I don't see why it's dumb.

By shaping it in the form of a question asking "how?", the author makes it seems as if there is anything of any substance to the how. The reader who does not know that it's simply free will assume that there is something special about the students, or something special they might need to do and clicks on the link to find out what that special thing is. The bait is accepted, and the trap is sprung, ad impressions are…

I think you didn't read the article carefully enough. There is a precise list of things you have to do in order to get into a German university in the middle of the article. It's titled "How to apply in Germany." Also there is a lot of useful information about typical rents, expenses for groceries, etc. and there are a number of links to very rich resources with more details. I think this article is an excellent starting point for anyone who is considering to study in Germany.

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

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ermm... elaborate a bit more on this? please?

In science and engineering, PhD students are typically paid a salary and have their tuition waived. This is mostly funded by the federal government though the NSF, DOE, DOD, etc.

I thought this applied to the humanities, arts, and social sciences too.

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

#36
post #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.

FWIW, I dated a German exchange student in highschool (in the US). When asked why she came to the US, she said her dad sent all of her siblings to the US to take driver's ed and get their US license as it was valid in Germany. Apparently it is many thousands of dollars^Weuros to get all of the necessary requirements completed to get a German drivers license.

I didn't mean to come off quite like I originally phrased that, more of it might be interesting for the perspective gained. Also, when I was in Berlin for 2 weeks (the GNOME/KDE Desktop summit) several years ago, I'd have stayed as well had I not been married. Wonderful country (and my family is racially of german descent so...)

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

#37
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In science and engineering, PhD students are typically paid a salary and have their tuition waived. This is mostly funded by the federal government though the NSF, DOE, DOD, etc.

I thought this applied to the humanities, arts, and social sciences too.

I think the stipend is much lower but yes. It also depends on the university how much the stipend is. At some schools it might only be like 15k which is not enough to live so you would have to find some way to work also.

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

#38

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 o…

Part of the reason for raising tuition is also to discourage out of state students from applying so that they can provide a relatively high quality of education to state's residences that is accessible to many of the state's residents. Georgia does this, as well as some other schools.

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

#39
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.

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

Heh, that's just a vague line item in a typical US college bill...(university activity fee, computer fee...). The system here is so extortionist on students. Sickening. Go Germany!

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

#40
post #36
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

FWIW, I dated a German exchange student in highschool (in the US). When asked why she came to the US, she said her dad sent all of her siblings to the US to take driver's ed and get their US license as it was valid in Germany. Apparently it is many thousands of dollars^Weuros to get all of the necessary requirements completed to get a German drivers license. I didn't mean to come off quite like I originally phrased t…

One the one had, a driver's license is not required in many German cities on account of their public transportation systems. However it is useful sometimes for intercity travel. But then they have a culture of ride-sharing too.
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