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How American Students Can Get a University Degree For Free In Germany
HughPickens.com writes: BBC reports that Germany has abandoned tuition fees altogether for German and international students alike and more than 4,600 US students are fully enrolled at Germany universities, an increase of 20% over three years. "When I found out that just like Germans I'm studying for free, it was sort of mind blowing," says Katherine Burlingame who decided to get her Master's degree at a university in the East German town of Cottbus. "I realized how easy the admission process was and how there was no tuition fee. This was a wow moment for me." When Katherine came to Germany in 2012 she spoke two words of German: 'hallo' and 'danke'. She arrived in an East German town which had, since the 1950s, taught the majority of its residents Russian rather than English. "At first I was just doing hand gestures and a lot of people had compassion because they saw that I was trying and that I cared." She did not need German, however, in her Master's program, which was filled with students from 50 different countries but taught entirely in English. In fact, German universities have drastically increased all-English classes to more than 1,150 programs across many fields.
So how can Germany afford to educate foreign students for free? Think about it this way: it's a global game of collecting talent. All of these students are the trading cards, and the collectors are countries. If a country collects more talent, they'll have an influx of new ideas, new businesses and a better economy. For a society with a demographic problem — a growing retired population and fewer young people entering college and the workforce — qualified immigration is seen as a resolution to the problem as research shows that 50% of foreign students stay in Germany. "Keeping international students who have studied in the country is the ideal way of immigration," says Sebastian Fohrbeck."They have the needed certificates, they don't have a language problem at the end of their stay and they know the culture."
So how can Germany afford to educate foreign students for free? Think about it this way: it's a global game of collecting talent. All of these students are the trading cards, and the collectors are countries. If a country collects more talent, they'll have an influx of new ideas, new businesses and a better economy. For a society with a demographic problem — a growing retired population and fewer young people entering college and the workforce — qualified immigration is seen as a resolution to the problem as research shows that 50% of foreign students stay in Germany. "Keeping international students who have studied in the country is the ideal way of immigration," says Sebastian Fohrbeck."They have the needed certificates, they don't have a language problem at the end of their stay and they know the culture."
The cost of the education pales in comparison to the benefit to society, and the profits isn't always a good metric?
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Lost at C:>. Found at C.
And yet, Germany has the biggest economy in Europe, a massive trade surplus, and has a heavy focus on technology and manufacturing.
Maybe the Germans have collectively decided that the cost of the education is trivial compared to the long term gains of keeping some highly educated people around, or having its own citizens be educated.
Maybe, gasp, it's possible to both make profits and take care of your people -- and that it isn't an either/or proposition.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Getting an education in the US is waay different to Germany.
Firstly, education in the US is one of the most expensive in the world. So foreigners that study in the US generally are relatively rich (or from rich families) to start with, and paying A LOT more than it would cost them to live in their own country to be there.
>> not Everyone moves out of the US after studying here...but they're not forced to.
They pretty much are. To study in the US you need a student visa which expires after you graduate or flunk out. If you stay outside of that, without having an something like an H1B or a green card you're illegal. simple. And those are not so easy/quick to get.
Also except for some very specific cases to do with training related to study, a student visa does not entitle you to work either.
Why not all three?
Who is really going to invade a country with nuclear arms? The US fights a war from 60 years ago while modern Germany "fights" on an economic and intellectual front. Good luck fighting this year's battles with 6 decades old thinking.
Sorry to dismantle your three-way false logic.
I love Germany, but I don't know of any German beers that are all that good. They certainly have the reputation but the reality has always been disappointing.
I can accept your opinion IF you are from some of Germany's neighbor countries (e.g., Austria/Belgium/Czech - great beers!), or at least from Europe (e.g., i am from Greece, maybe the European country with the least "beer" tradition, but still we have a couple of decent large-scale production beers, plus, a dozen of good micro-brew beers), OR... you exclude from your good beer list any American (at least large-scale production - i can accept that some good micro-brew beers exist in USA... from German descendents!).
Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
Maybe Germans would re-think that decision if they had to pay a realistic sum for their own civil defense rather than rely on the US and NATO.
Oh I love how this argument always comes out when it comes to how one country manages to do something different compared to the US.
For all the bullshit spewing about how the US "protects everyone else in the world and you would all be fucked without us", you folks certainly let Ukraine down.
"Protect your People" That's rich. Since when is Germany facing a problem of not protecting their people? I don't see anyone even threatening to invade German territory.
If you think that America spends all it spends on armaments because it wants to protect its people, then try to actually cut the funds for an arms system that is not necessary to protect the USA. You will find an army of lobbyists and politicians that will fight your tooth and nail to keep companies from removing jobs from their respective districts. The massive military we carry is about money.
the funny thing is the people who complain about this (rightfully so) are the same ones that would call me a racist for saying learn english here in america
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
He meant actual beer, not the mass-marketed barley-water that passes for 'beer' here in the US.
(then again, if you attend Portland State University, then kindly ignore what I just wrote, because you're pretty much good to go.)
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Having experienced both systems, I would say that the academics were comparable. I think the choice of where to study depends on whom you want to meet and what kind of career you would like having afterwards. The U.S. is closer to a lot of the innovation in computer science, so if striking it rich at the next big thing in Silicon Valley is your ambition, you could probably get better contacts at an American University. Germany has a more traditional industrial economy, a lot like the U.S. was before about 1970. Germany designs, develops and makes a lot of their own stuff. Studying in Germany helped me gain a lot of invaluable contacts in the German "Mittelstand" or mid-sized industry. Germany is one of the few places that still combine product development and manufacturing under one roof and there are a lot of advantages to the 'old-school' way of doing business. It might not be as sleek as "designed in California, made in China" but it's the best way to ensure consistant quality, especially in more complex, safety-critical industries.