I can start sell crack for a living....

[SnoopDog]

..... because the german federal court has decided that universities can legally charge the students 1000€ a year, probably starting in 2007. Two days ago it abolished a law that forbid this.

Since I wanna go back to uni this summer, I'll definitely have to think of a way to conjur up that money. Keep in mind that students already have to pay about 300 € a year, it's just disguised as money that goes into administration, etc.
Then there's the issue of living-costs.

Germany really is getting closer to america in a lot of respects.
Now our education will become elite and only the rich families will be able to get a good eductaion for their children. It's pretty sad when you think about it.

The other issue is that today there already is a huge shortage of jobs and training posts for youngsters that are not able to go to uni. Now, when a lot of students will quit uni because their not able to finance it, they look for a job and a training post as well.

I can't see the benefits of that. (Which doesn't mean I don't understand the arguments of the federal court against the law they abolished)

Snoopy, concerned

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I'm not sure of the exchange rate between euros and dollars, but one year at a decent college here costs somewhere around $30,000. Without books.

---dr.M.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

This same thing happened here in Portugal 2 years ago, Snoop.

They indexed the yearly fee to two minimum wages, which is something like €700,00

And yeah, the Constitution says, "it is the duty of the State to ensure free education for all" and "the rules governing access to universities and other institutions of higher education shall guarantee equal opportunities for all and the democratisation of the system of education".

 

[minsue]

Wow. Why didn't anyone tell me education was priced so low elsewhere? Hell, I'd have gotten some!

Sorry to hear it, Snoop.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I'm not sure of the exchange rate between euros and dollars, but one year at a decent college here costs somewhere around $30,000. Without books.

---dr.M.

"Decent" universities here, with the best curricula and the best teachers, are usually the public ones. Private schools are where you go if you don't have the grades to enter a public university and your dad can afford the $30,000. Not something that goes well in a resumé (except the dad-being-able-to-afford-it part).

 

[Sherry Hawk]

I'm not exactly sure which states are doing this now, but I know Georgia is...

They're taking the money earned from the state lottery, and funding higher education with it. If your grades are at an acceptable level, then there's no tuition costs or administrative fees to go to one of the state universities. All you have to pay is living costs and books.

The trend seems to be for costs here to go lower rather than the other way around - at least for those states who don't keep voting a lottery down because gambling is a sin.

 

[gauchecritic]

Seems like if you can't afford it, you don't deserve it.

At the same time as bleeding dry those bright students from poor families who are trying to live the defunct (worldwide) american dream, over here they have become obtuse, anachronistic and paradoxical by not only instituting student loans but also actually paying a weekly 'wage' to sixth formers as encouragement to stay on.

Wankers.

 

[Liar]

Wow. Why didn't anyone tell me education was priced so low elsewhere? Hell, I'd have gotten some!

It's free over here. I only pay for what I read.

Sorry to hear about that, snoop. 1000 € is not quite an arm and a leg, but enough money for many to not be able to get their education. Start scouting for scholarships.

#L

 

[minsue]

It's free over here. I only pay for what I read.

!

 

[rgraham666]

I'm not exactly sure which states are doing this now, but I know Georgia is...

They're taking the money earned from the state lottery, and funding higher education with it. If your grades are at an acceptable level, then there's no tuition costs or administrative fees to go to one of the state universities. All you have to pay is living costs and books.

The trend seems to be for costs here to go lower rather than the other way around - at least for those states who don't keep voting a lottery down because gambling is a sin.

Lotteries are a tax. A tax on the mathematically incompetent.

The question the people in charge should be asking themselves is "What happens to our economy when we don't have enough people with the education to get jobs that support a decent lifestyle?"

A 19th Century educational system can only support a 19th Century economy, technology notwithstanding.

 

[R. Richard]

SnoopDog:
I am sorry to hear of yoru financial/educational problems. You might check out the methods that one Francois Villon used to get around the same problems some years back.

 

[Liar]

!

It's free for exchange students too. But they are debating that right now.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

It's free for exchange students too. But they are debating that right now.

I think it's free for exchange students throughout Europe. We just have to pay the tuition of our university of origin. (At least if you're in the Erasmus program...)

 

[nushu2]

Vancouver - The swift and certain fallout of the Campbell government's decision to end a provincial freeze on tuition fees has arrived: the University of British Columbia has announced tuition increases as high as 321%.

The university's board of governors has approved massive increases in virtually all programs, especially for MBA students and those who want to become doctors and dentists. MBA fees are rising from $6,600 a year to $28,000 annually - or 321%.

Fees for future doctors and dentists will jump 75% to $6,500 a year and could reach $14,000 within three years. The cost of a BA will rise 22%.

A six-year freeze on tuition was ended by Premier Gordon Campbell earlier this year, allowing universities to raise rates as high as they like. Other institutions are expected to follow UBC's lead.

(NUPGE: 15 March 2002)


That was almost 3 years ago. Since then, tuition has risen 30%, on average, every year. There have been protests and law suits but they seem to have no effect. One more indication of the shifting social paradigm.

Even trade schools and apprenticeship programs, which were strongly subsidized are becoming restrictive. We are facing massive shortages of skilled labour and the government, instead of encouraging training, is planning to open the door to international qualification and deregulation of building standards and codes. You see, if the government agencies are no longer involved, they're not legally incompetent or liable.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Yup, that's what I had to do after harvesting my own organs and selling myself on street corners. But if you do follow suit, the real money is in the Horse. People will pay top dollar for white, plus you can use it to start a prostitution ring. The only cost is an utter loss of whatever moral compass you may have had, but then you didn't really need that anyway.

 

[Liar]

I think it's free for exchange students throughout Europe. We just have to pay the tuition of our university of origin. (At least if you're in the Erasmus program...)

Yeah, but at the moment, some can come and study in Sweden without paying any tuition at all. Joining the Erasmus would actually make it harder for many to come here.

 

[M Crim]

Sorry to bring this on a side note but they have a lot of lotteries here in Illinois. I think it was last week one of the state schools announced they were going to raise their tuition and the public schools here in Chicago are in a fiscal crisis....so where are my states lotteries profits going?

 

[SnoopDog]

Well, I know there are countries that are probably worse off but my father is retired, my mother will only work for a couple of years before she retires, we're not rich (we're not poor either but...) and my brother doesn't even attend uni. So I'm just wondering about a family with let's say three kids and all of them want a good education. What are they supposed to do?

Right now I'm working almost three times as much as I'm supposed to be in order to gather some cash. And that's just to be able to finance a living when I'll move away to study. Uni-costs not included.

And I missed to mention that there already were fees at german universities, it's just that until now you had a certain ammount of semesters for free. After that you already had to pay for each semester. So....

Snoopy