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American students head to Germany for free college

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Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#121

Post by DanBC »

ownagefool wrote: post #115
purplelobster wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, PPP is only for things you have to actually buy. Where I live, salaries and PPP is lower than in the US where I lived before. But it's not that simple. Does PPP take into account that I got my 5 year education for free? Actually I received roughly $400/month to go to university. Which also means I don't need a college fund for my kids. Does it reflect that health care is free and I don't have to even th…

You'll actually find it's pretty complicated to measure earnings in Europe. In London you could happily be earning $200,000 - $300,000 with IT skills, avoid tax, keep 90% of that, and have the state benefits. Simply stated, because of the high levels of tax and rife avoidance, it's probably quite difficult to quantify earnings in London, for example.

> In London you could happily be earning $200,000 - $300,000 with IT skills, avoid tax, keep 90% of that, and have the state benefits.

How? Which particular state benefits are you talking about?

(And it seems like you're talking about evasion - which is illegal, rather than avoidance which is a mix of normal tax planning (a contractor registering for VAT and claiming some of that back) and loophole-manipulation).

Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#123

Post by ptaipale »

randunel wrote: post #49
lentil_soup wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I studied engineering in Europe. When I went to Boston or London to work it was like I was the boss or something because I was much better prepared than Americans or British." What do you mean by "I studied engineering in Europe"? London is in Europe.

I work in London. The natives here consider the UK as a separate entity from Europe. They talk about the mainland as Europe, and compare themselves to "Europeans", not to "other Europeans". This is the British culture of "us vs them", or "we are too good to be associated with you" that I live in now :P

I understand that in the campaigns for upcoming elections, some parties pledge to arrange a referendum about whether UK should stay in Europe, or float across the Atlantic.

Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#124

Post by kyllo »

galfarragem wrote: post #119
tedunangst wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you have been misinformed about the main goal of many early American colonizers. Also, that's a rather tenuous connection to suburbs. US suburbs mostly developed 200 years after colonization. And 100 years after London (that's "old world", right?) invented suburbs.

I agree with you, suburbs were not invented in the "new world" but these countries made them popular, probably with the individual dream of a better life and particular conditions as land availability or cheap oil that leaded to the development of single housing to almost everybody. I'm sure you agree also that suburbs in "old world" (Europe) don't have such a massive presence that they completely imply a certain lif…

Suburbs in America are a byproduct of racism. They were invented when sharecroppers (freed African-American slaves and their children who then became indentured servants/laborers) from the south migrated en masse to the cities of the north and started moving into urban neighborhoods, and the white people fled to the outskirts rather than let black people live among them.

Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#125

Post by k__ »

brazzy wrote: post #45
stfu wrote: post #30

As far as I know this has been mostly about boosting "diversity" quotas at German Universities in order to perform better in international rankings. Previously this had been done by rising the amount of students coming from low-income regions (e.g. ex-Russian territory, Asia), so it is certainly a welcome change to see US students making use of that system.

Bullshit. University has been tuition-free in Germany for decades, except for some states for a few years recently.

But how much?

At the remote university in Hagen I paid ~120€ a year for the student union. Every course is 60-100€.

At the university in Stuttgart I paid ~300€ a year and all courses were free.

There was a time I paid 500€ per semester extra, but they are long gone.

Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#126

Post by DanBC »

kyllo wrote: post #124
galfarragem wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, suburbs were not invented in the "new world" but these countries made them popular, probably with the individual dream of a better life and particular conditions as land availability or cheap oil that leaded to the development of single housing to almost everybody. I'm sure you agree also that suburbs in "old world" (Europe) don't have such a massive presence that they completely imply a certain lif…

Suburbs in America are a byproduct of racism. They were invented when sharecroppers (freed African-American slaves and their children who then became indentured servants/laborers) from the south migrated en masse to the cities of the north and started moving into urban neighborhoods, and the white people fled to the outskirts rather than let black people live among them.

And white people were given favourable mortgage rates for these new properties, while black people were denied loans.

Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#127

Post by k__ »

bpires wrote: post #118
khabaal wrote: post #111

As a german who works for a german university, i would like to point out that studying is actually not totally free. Here at the University of applied sciences in Münster, you would have to pay a total 235€ every six month, consisting of a social contribution of 85.44€ and a student body contribution of 145.75€, for which you will get a ticket for free travel by bus or by train inside North Rhine-Westphalia for the w…

It is not about it being completely free. The whole point is how 235€ or even 1000€ per semester is nothing compared to tens of thousands americans pay in tuiton. Top universities in the US like MIT and Stanford charge over $40000 per year. With half of that you could comfortably live as a student in Germany for a year with all expenses paid. I live as a student in Germany on 650€/mo. That's less than $10000 a year.

The professors always told us, that the US is much more expensive with their education, but the people know this and have many options to save this money till the children are old enough to study, so it shouldn't be so bad...

Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#128

Post by mhurron »

k__ wrote: post #127
bpires wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is not about it being completely free. The whole point is how 235€ or even 1000€ per semester is nothing compared to tens of thousands americans pay in tuiton. Top universities in the US like MIT and Stanford charge over $40000 per year. With half of that you could comfortably live as a student in Germany for a year with all expenses paid. I live as a student in Germany on 650€/mo. That's less than $10000 a year.

The professors always told us, that the US is much more expensive with their education, but the people know this and have many options to save this money till the children are old enough to study, so it shouldn't be so bad...

Funny guy.

Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#129

Post by benihana »

galfarragem wrote: post #41
Htsthbjig wrote: post #24

Education in Europe is not free. You pay with your qualifications. If your university grades are not good enough, you go out fast. I studied engineering in Europe. When I went to Boston or London to work it was like I was the boss or something because I was much better prepared than Americans or British. But Americans have much better job opportunities that make them better than Europeans after working some time in a…

I was much better prepared than Americans or British. But Americans have much better job opportunities that make them better than Europeans after working some time in any field. Great comment. Anyway I will never leave Europe for US/Canada/Australia[1]. I've visited some family in the latter and I feel that the advantages of these countries are not enough to make me live there. Exchanging peace of mind and a huge dec…

>Exchanging peace of mind and a huge decrease of life quality for some extra probabilities of being rich and extra consumption doen't worth IMO.

I don't think you understand what it's like to live in the US and Canada as an educated worker.

>* but they are still "new world" countries, where the main goal of voluntary "colonizers" was/is getting rich and be able to consume more than in their native countries.*

Whoa, how are you using the internet back there in 1912? I don't think you understand the reason that English colonists came to America or how America even works today.

Your whole comment reeks of arrogance, ignorance and condescension but hey what do I know? I'm just an new world American, not a cosmopolitan, wise European who is recently celebrating twenty consecutive years without an episode of ethnic cleansing happening on his continent.

Re: American students head to Germany for free college

#130

Post by pmr_ »

higherpurpose wrote: post #73
drvd wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germans are not so obsessed about not paying taxes like e.g. Americans or Swiss. Nobody likes to pay taxes and everybody complains about the high taxes. But I think (actually hope!) that Germans understand (if only unconsciously) that happiness is much more depending on getting old without fear of poverty, knowing to be treated if ill, being able to go safely outside anytime anywhere, not dropping out of society if b…

If Germany is like other European countries, it also helps that your taxes are "automatically paid" to the government, usually by having the employer take them out of your salary and paying them. It's not like in US where Americans feel every dollar going to the government when they do their taxes. Since they are paid automatically, the income taxes aren't even on people's minds, usually. However, if Europeans had to…

Even if your tax is paid automatically you can still recover taxes but it is hard and the laws are confusing. In Germany a special profession with a state exam (Steuerberater) as well as special associations (Lohnsteuerhilfeverein) exist or have been created to help individuals. For self-employed or people interested in recovering part of their taxes using those services is almost unavoidable.
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