[Peace-discuss] Fwd: At least for now, learning German might be the best financial choice an American high school student can make.

Sun Oct 5 11:14:36 EDT 2014

  This Country Just Abolished College Tuition Fees

German Chancellor Angela Merkel with college students CREDIT: AP 
Photo/Michael Probst
Educate! <http://www.popularresistance.org/category/educate/> Debt 
<http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/debt/>, Education 
<http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/education/>, Germany 
<http://www.popularresistance.org/tag/germany/>
By Joaquim Moreira Salles, www.thinkprogress.com 
<http://thinkprogress.org/education/2014/10/01/3574551/germany-free-college-tuition/>
October 4th, 2014
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/German Chancellor Angela Merkel with college students CREDIT: AP/ 
/Photo/Michael Probst/

Prospective students in the United States who can't afford to pay for 
college or don't want to rack up tens of thousands in student debt 
should try their luck in Germany. Higher education is now free 
throughout the country, even for international students. Yesterday, 
Lower Saxony became the last of seven German states to abolish tuition 
fees 
<http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/22027/1/germany-scraps-tuition-fees-for-all-universities>, 
which were already extremely low compared to those paid in the United 
States.

German universities only began charging for tuition in 2006, when the 
German Constitutional Court ruled that limited fees, combined with 
loans, were not in conflict the country's commitment to universal 
education. The measure proved unpopular, however, and German states that 
had instituted fees began dropping them one by one.

"We got rid of tuition fees because we do not want higher education 
which depends on the wealth of the parents," Gabrielle Heinen-Kjajic, 
the minister for science and culture in Lower Saxony, said in a 
statement. Her words were echoed by many in the German government. 
"Tuition fees are unjust," said Hamburg's senator for science Dorothee 
Stapelfeldt. "They discourage young people who do not have a traditional 
academic family background from taking up study. It is a core task of 
politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high 
quality standard free of charge in Germany."

Compared to American students, Germans barely had to pay for 
undergraduate study even before tuition fees were abolished. Semester 
fees averaged around EUR500 <http://www.economist.com/node/18898286> 
($630) and students were entitled to many perks 
<http://www.studentuniverse.com/student-blog/study-abroad/benefits-student-germany>, 
such as cheap (often free) transportation within and between cities.

Free education is a concept that is embraced in most of Europe with 
notable exceptions like the U.K., where the government voted to lift the 
cap on university fees in 2010. The measure has reportedly cost more 
money than it brought in. The Guardian 
<http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/21/student-fees-policy-costing-more> 
reported in March that students are failing to pay back student loans at 
such a rate that "the government will lose more money than it would have 
saved from keeping the old £3,000 ($4,865) tuition fee system."

UK students often compare their plight to their American counterparts, 
but most Americans would be fortunate to pay as little as the British 
do: a maximum of $14,550 per year 
<http://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/student-finance/uk-tuition-fees-how-much-does-it-cost-study-uk>. 
High tuition fees in the U.S. have caused student loan debt, which 
stands at $1.2 trillion, to spiral out of control. It is now the 
second-highest form of consumer debt in the country. According to the 
Institute for College Access and Success 
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/specialfeatures/2013/08/07/how-the-college-debt-is-crippling-students-parents-and-the-economy/>, 
two thirds of American college students will leave their alma mater in 
significant debt (averaging at $26,600).

While there are many government measures that could ease the massive 
burden of student debt, some straightforward steps could make higher 
education accessible to all. Tennessee 
<http://thinkprogress.org/education/2014/04/16/3427593/tennessee-free-college-tuition/>, 
for example, recently voted to make two-year colleges free for all high 
school graduates. The U.S. as whole could take a note from Germany and 
make public universities free with relative ease 
<http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/heres-exactly-how-much-the-government-would-have-to-spend-to-make-public-college-tuition-free/282803/>. 
The government spends around $69 billion subsidizing college education 
and another $107.4 billion on student loans. Tuition at all public 
universities comes to much less than that, around $62.6 billion in 2012. 
By restructuring the education budget, the cost of attending public 
universities could easily be brought down to zero. This would also put 
pressure on private universities to lower their cost in order to be more 
competitive.

At least for now, however, learning German might be the best financial 
choice an American high school student can make.

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