But do you really think that tuitions in the US reflect the actual cost of operation of colleges?
I certainly won't defend the cost of a college degree in the United States, but that's not my point. I object to this being called "free" since the cost is merely transferred from the individual getting the education to that country's taxpayers.
If I were a German taxpayer, I'd likely be fine with helping support such a system....if used by my fellow Germans (longtime residents or new immigrants). Subsidizing foreigners who will likely leave the country after graduation? Not so much. It strikes me as rather parasitic.
According to the BBC article cited in the post, 50% of foreign students wind up staying in Germany. Germany suffers a fair amount of brain drain to the US. They're more than happy to have some of our more enterprising students by way of compensation. Certainly, there would be a financing issue if huge numbers of Americans head over for a free ride, but we're a long way from that point.
And my second point addresses that. The German government thinks it's worth it to attract young students and hopefully see them stay long term and help the economy. This system is not unique to Germany, a lot of European countries work the same way.
I certainly won't defend the cost of a college degree in the United States, but that's not my point. I object to this being called "free" since the cost is merely transferred from the individual getting the education to that country's taxpayers.
If I were a German taxpayer, I'd likely be fine with helping support such a system....if used by my fellow Germans (longtime residents or new immigrants). Subsidizing foreigners who will likely leave the country after graduation? Not so much. It strikes me as rather parasitic.