There is a myth circling around in the U.S. that higher education in some European countries is free. Education, however, is never free. That is as much true for European countries as it is for the States. Countries like Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and France are the usual suspects when it comes to the discussion on complimentary higher education. Sure, it is a lot cheaper, but that doesn’t make it free or better in any way.
Let’s focus this discussion on Germany, where it is true that universities will not charge any fees. This sounds great, but it does not mean education here is free. German universities charge something called, “Semestergebühren," which is a maximum amount of 500€ (about $540) that will provide students with a “Semesterticket," likewise, a student ID in the US. The difference between “Semesterticket” and the American student ID, however, is that the German version will provide you with free public transportation in the area around the university (e.g. all of Berlin, the area Mainz to Frankfurt, or the Köln-Bonn region), it’ll get you a discount into the cinema, theater, on the train etc., and it also includes the less visible contribution of fairly cheap meals in the university's cafeteria. That you will need, because unlike US campuses, nobody cares about you and how you feed yourself, or find your way to the faculty buildings that are often stretched out over the city. This is partly a result of less financial options in terms of staff. Since this produces a higher student to faculty ratio, students are often left to figure these things out for themselves. It doesn’t mean that you can’t ever talk to a professor, but it’ll take time, patience, and lot less support on a daily basis.
So, a student has to pay up to 500€ every six months (semesters go from October to March and April to September) and gets free public transportation, reductions on cinema, theater, etc. and cheap meals in return. Seems fair, but this does not include living expenses, learning materials, etc.
Most students (87 percent) live on a combination of financial support from their parents and a side job ranging from waiting tables to student assistant jobs in the university. One study showed that the average student has about 864€ ($930) on hand. From that money, they have to pay the semester fee, rent, groceries, learning materials, and whatever else they need. In addition to financial support from their parents and working, every third student receives something called “Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz” (yes, that’s a word...welcome to German bureaucratic language), in short “BAföG," which is state-run financial support for students with fewer financial options from their parents. On average, students receive 443€ ($476)/ month from the state, of which half the amount has to be paid back eventually.
Altogether, the average student will have 864€/12 month = 10.368€ ($11,138)/year. Those numbers put the idea behind free education in a perspective that needs to be considered when discussing the concept.
Yes, this is still cheaper than education in the US in a lot of ways, and with more benefits on the surface. BUT, less money also means fewer resources in terms of staff and learning materials. German professors have a lot more students, which often means long waiting lines for office hours, e-mail responses that can take weeks, and (especially in large universities) professors who might not know you by name or what you do. This leaves students pretty much on their own; it is up to them to figure things out, organize themselves, and get things going, which lets another dimension of the word “free” emerge: the freedom that comes with cheap semester fees and an independent life. Students can easily stretch out their study for years without getting a degree, switching programs and getting an idea of what it is they really want to do. Almost every German student at some time in their study years has lived through a “Bummelsemester," a colloquial term for a semester in which a student doesn’t really do anything in particular, but rather hangs around and does whatever comes up. Some students use this optional time to sit in in lectures from other programs, since they are all free of charge; others go abroad to do work and travel, and others just work and hang out. These are all options while students are still enrolled and receiving benefits from their student status in terms of university meals, public transportation, etc. This kind of freedom supports what some call the spirit of the university, a freedom to figure out what it is a student wants to do.
To sum up, education in Europe is not free, but rather less expensive. Less money means less support. You're on your own. This sounds good and bad at the same time, which leads to a rather unsatisfying conclusion. The myth of free education is simply not true; you still have to live, and that’s pretty much up to you. It is, however, in total cheaper than most US universities. Studying in Germany or any of the other countries (they all sort of come to the same kind of calculation) requires less money, but instead requires that you go the extra mile to get through your studies. You can not rely on the university to figure it out for you since they are simply not paid to do that. It also takes a start-up capital to get things going, and with only 6% of students relying on bank loans, it mostly comes down to a personal financial back-up.
Education is never free.
Source for study: http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/sozialerh...
