Want to attend college for free? It can happen if you learn German.
All German universities are now free to Americans and all other international students. The last German state to charge tuition at its universities struck down the fees this week.
Even before Germany abolished college tuition for all students, the price was a steal. Typically semester fees were around $630. What’s more, German students receive many perks including discounts for food, clothing and events, as well as inexpensive or even free transportation.
In explaining why Germany made this move, Dorothee Stapelfeldt, a Hamburg senator, called tuition fees “unjust” and added that “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.”
Actually, German universities were free up until 2006 when they started charging tuition. That triggered such a crush of criticism that German states began phasing out this policy. Lower Saxony was the last holdout.
It’s too bad that politicians in the U.S. don’t feel that a college education is worth supporting appropriately. State aid to the nation’s public universities took a nosedive during the 2008 recession and education funding remains well below those levels. The average state is spending 23 percent less per student than before the recession, according to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Actually, state support has been declining for public universities for a quarter of a century. Using an interactive tool from The Chronicle of Higher Education, you can see how state government subsidies have cratered at individual institutions.
With the average undergrad borrower now leaving school with more than $29,000 in debt, the free ride in Germany can look awfully tempting.
How to handle the language barrier
German is not an easy language to learn. Fortunately, however, there are international language programs in Germany, which have become very popular with international students before they tackle obtaining a degree in a different language.
What’s more, an increasing number of German universities are offering degrees in English. These are often called international studies programs or in some other way have the word international in their title.
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/2014/10/03/german-colleges—free-degrees—americans/16658027/
UMM… TSCHAU. ICH BIN AUF DEUTSCHLAND FUR UNIVERSITAET GEHEN. ALSO, MEIN DUETSCH IST SHRECKLICH, ABER ICH VERSTEHE KLEIN DEUTSCH, TSHUSSSSSSSS~~~
do you guys know how hard I’m gonna learn German?
so fucking hard
…ich müsse zurückgehen zu deutsch lernen :o
also, just as a note: if you want to learn german but are not financially able to take a class, duolingo is a great resource!
so is memrise!
FUCK! Why couldn’t this have been a thing when I was choosing which language to learn in high school? Fuck.
My mother speaks German. English is her first language but German is her second (& only other) language she knows. I must make use of this and get my ass back to school
This isn’t completely correct. It’s not just Americans they’ve opened this up to, it’s EVERY COUNTRY. Which makes it even more awesome!
Reblogging again for my non-German and non-American followers who are interested in furthering their education
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