This Country Just Abolished College Tuition Fees
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, 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 €500 ($630) and students were entitled to many perks, such as cheap (often free) transportation within and between cities.
http://thinkprogress.org/education/2014/10/01/3574551/germany-free-college-tuition/
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Doing an apprenticeship is a very smart idea.
We shuffle off 18 year olds straight from high school into college and they're not ready to commit to rigorous education. It's the first time out of the house and away from parents and that alone is a time of adjustment. At my alma mater, for which parents must now shell out $59,000 a year just for tuition, most of the time except for finals was spent in extracurricular activities and parties. I remember the dean of our program speaking with one student about an appointment for office hours and she opened her planner and kept saying she couldn't make time to meet with him because she was too busy. Every day from 1-3 on her schedule was penciled in "tanning". I think I made the 
face at that one.
In Europe, young people are encouraged to travel for 1-2 years before college which is highly educational. For my Danish friend, that meant bumming around hostels and picking up odd jobs. It doesn't have to be a rich kid's holiday, but it is an education in and of itself. They don't think that college comes immediately after high school. When he went to university, it was free tuition as well as a stipend for food, books, housing, etc. No loans, no debt.
I also encourage young people to work for a while, save up for college, find their true interests and then they are ready to dive into college. I know this from experience because in my master's program there were 5 older people and we were far more advanced than any of the younger students because we had done a lot of reading, work experience, and side classes before getting into the program. The kids straight from college at 20-21 were pretty lost and wanted to get out of class as quickly as possible to hit the pub. One of our professors offered weekend classes for free because the subject (cinematography) is far too complex for the limited class time. He gave a hands-on 6 hour course for anyone who wanted to show up and it was the best class in the whole program. The older people were there every time and the younger ones never showed up. I don't blame them, but it's just a waste of a ton of money.
I also saw in college the ones who were truly dedicated could graduate early. The courses are so easy now to make room for the frat kids and tanners who aren't paying attention but are paying tuition, you can load up on credits and get through it fast. I had a full time job and still graduated a semester early. It didn't take three years to declare a major and so I had been taking major level courses as a sophomore which helped. If I or my parents were paying that ridiculous amount of tuition today, I would try to get out even faster. I know one relative whose daughter is at a $55k university and takes three classes a semester!
Sorry for the long screed, it just seems as though our higher education has become a payoff in the effort to find a decent job. The universities found out about it and jacked their prices up so high that people are in debt for the rest of their lives. They're wooing them with gyms and pools and amenities, much like an expensive resort, but not with a great education. The system is definitely broken. I would recommend for people to self-educate if at all possible.
