Just read a great article on how the German "free education" system worrks,

[napi21]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/why-american-students-are-flocking-germany-staying-n515961

I'd love for all our voters to read it.

Natasha Turner, 25, from Rochester, New York, came to Germany on an exchange program three years ago but decided to stay when she realized how "cheap it was to study here."

Students in Germany pay a fee to cover university administrative costs and to support student unions. This "semester fee" rarely exceeds $250, and in many cases it also covers the cost of books and public transportation.

Minnesotan Sarah Johnson, also a University of Bonn master's student, has a total monthly expenditure of $600 in Germany — or $7,200 per year. That compares to $20-30,000 dollars in tuition fees alone she would have paid back home.

More than 1,100 all-English-language classes across numerous fields have been established in recent years.


Bernie should quote some of this on the campaign trail.

[tazkcmo]

1. So what?

They're a bunch of commie socialist fascists!














sarcasm

[Xipe Totec]

2. My daughter just started her studies in Prague.

And yea, the costs are far cheaper. About $700 per month in expenditures ($8,000 a year). Versus $8,000 tuition at a community college in Virginia plus room and board.

No contest.

[EV_Ares]

3. Thank you for the article. There are no costs other than the regular fees for someone from the US

or another country to go to a university in Germany? I did n't see anything about that in the article. Thanks.

[napi21]

9. Here's an article that explains costs for International students,

http://www.studying-in-germany.org/what-does-it-cost-to-study-in-germany/

From October and on, every federation is required to abolish tuition fees and offer free higher education to native and international students alike. The federal states of Bayern, Hamburg, Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen that were charging tuition fees up to this event are now free of charge just as any other University in the country. These previously obligatory fees account for about 500 Euros per semester, now saved, which will allegedly help German students with the living costs in the future. However, postgraduate degrees don’t fall under the same decision therefore tuitions will continue to be charged for Masters and PhD degrees as in the past.

In Germany one has to pay 10 Euros for every three months in which he or she visited a doctor, if insured. Without the insurance these costs and the costs for drugs and other medical treatment can increase very fast even if nothing bad happened. Those who do not want a health insurance because they think it is only necessary for bad illnesses or accidents are wrong. Also accidents can happen easily during the time abroad. It can be a simple sports injury or a traffic accident whilst shopping in the city. If hospital stays and operations are necessary the costs cannot be covered by students. An additional private health insurance covers the costs that would provoke high co-payments with the normal insurance.

A further search of the site says the cost of health ins. for an international student is 33,10 eu.

[EdwardBernays]

4. Non-EU students

Typically pay a lot more.

Trinity College in Dublin - which is very well known, the Harvard of Ireland, a 4 year degree in psychology is about 5k a year total. For EU students.

The same degree for Non-EU students is around 17-18k a year.

Needless to say there's not a huge number of US undergraduates at Trinity. There are a LOT of Asian ones however.

[thucythucy]

5. I'd known about this for a very long time

(I have family in Germany). When I tried explaining to my family there how much college costs in America, they at first refused to believe it. As one of them said, "That makes no sense. How are poor people supposed to get an education?" As I say, they were dumbfounded.

I HADN'T realized there were so many English language courses available. That's news to me.

Some other items about the German system. First, as I understand it, these benefits are only extended so long as the student maintains a passing average. There are no "gaff" courses (at least according to students there I've talked to) and no "legacies" that get passed on no matter what. You want a college education? Fine, then focus on studies and exams and papers, not parties and the social scene. (Which isn't to say German students don't party. But studies come first). Second, there isn't nearly the focus on sports that there is here. Sure, there are athletics and such. But, from what I've observed, no multi-billion dollar collegiate sports industry. Once again, college is for study, for getting a serious education. Not for parties and games. All this is anecdotal on my part--from my trips there and knowing students. If any of this is wrong someone please correct me.

Anyway, I agree, Bernie should use Germany (and Finland--one of the best education systems in the world) as examples of what we could be doing, if we as a society truly wanted an educated populace, and the social mobility that comes with that.

[CTyankee]

7. don't you think that being exposed to European culture is a huge benefit all of itself?

So many Americans don't ever get out of the U.S. which is why the propaganda about how awful it is to live in a socialist country gets so much traction here. People don't know any better...

[thucythucy]

10. Yes. It amazes me to talk to people

who've never been outside the US, but badmouth Europe. I remember an acquaintance once called Germany "a socialist hell hole" which must have been a phrase he picked up from Limbaugh or Fox News or something. And he wasn't talking about the old DDR, but Germany post 2010. Granted, Germany--and all of Europe--have problems and issues, but the notion that living there is hell for most people is absurd. I was also astounded at some of the benefits Germans take for granted--especially extended paid vacations, holidays, maternal and paternal leave....

I've also spent some time in various parts of Scandinavia-mostly Sweden and Norway. Aside from the climate--Norway in February can be really tough to take--I've always loved spending time there. (Also--Scandinavia tends to be very expensive in terms of cost of living--at least if you're not employed there).

I love to travel, and wish I'd been able to do more of it. Maybe someday if my health improves.

Best wishes.

[OxQQme]

6. One percent of GDP

snip>
The cost of Germany's essentially free public university education is met by the federal states and the central government. In 2015, state expenditure on higher education accounted for almost one percent of Germany's gross domestic product.<

One percent of GDP??? OMG! They're gonna go broke.

[Johnny2X2X]

8. Strange

When I was at Michigan State, we had an exchange program with Kaiserslaughtern University in Germany. I ended up living with several German students from Kaiserslaughtern, as part of the exchange program they paid their regular German tuition, so they were going to MSU for Grad School (mostly physics or particle physics) for like $500 a semester. But the MSU students who were studying in Germany would pay their regular MSU tuition to go to school at Kaiserslaughtern.

College could be free, it's a matter of setting the country's priorities to value higher education.