Tom Klein
If education in Germany is free and good, then why doesn't everybody go there to study ?
I am fascinated by the ambivalence in many of the answers in how Germany‘s offer of ?free“ education is experienced. Many writers appreciate the opportunity of not having to pay for their lectures and degrees. But there is an undertone of disappointment among others that ?free“ does not apply to the whole experience of being in Germany.
It might be helpful to talk about expectations for someone considering coming to Germany to study, as a number of writers see a mismatch between the promise of ?free“ education and the cultural assumptions about how study and work in Germany are understood.
Germany has a competitive and meritocratic culture. Our culture is informed by Weber’s Protestant work ethic and by the understanding that we work to improve our collective well-being, and not just for personal advantage.
To succeed here takes commitment, focus and discipline. While education is virtually free, life is most definitely not. When you come to Germany, you are invited to participate in the opportunities that its vibrant educational-research-industrial complex brings with it, but the basic expectation is that you are going to have to prove yourself on many levels to take advantage of it.
Learning German is one of the commitments one has to make to partake in the opportunities. When I came to Germany with a scholarship, I read grammar books in my spare time, and taught English as a second language on the side to earn money to pay for my life. If, to take one example, you are studying in a technology field, there is a vast need for programming and design through which one can earn a basic income. The opportunies exist, but one must be willing to take them.
The political consensus in Germany which makes education freely available is not so much that of a welfare state which spares its citizens and guests the effort of the struggle to live, as that of a competitive society with a realistic sense of what it takes to invest in our future, and that provides public support to increase the chances of success.
We understand that we lose vital talent if we don’t give everyone access to education, and that there is nothing to be gained for the society by burdening students with crushing debt at the beginning of their working lives, as this is money they cannot invest in housing, cars, or the entertainment from which others earn their living. But to be clear, this is not welfare we are offering. We very much expect people we have trained to succeed in their lives, so that they can pay taxes and help to finance the next generation of students and the retirement of those who payed for their education. At the very least, we hope that those returning to their countries will have made good connections to government and business in Germany, and will work with us in building ties to their countries.
For Germans, the right to have an education is supported by public funding. If you cannot support yourself through family resources or student work, there are many support programs which will make sure that you have the opportunity.
For foreigners, we provide the same conditions for education as for Germans, but social support is understandably limited to scholarships, as public support for basic life needs is sustainable only within the borders in which the taxes are payed to finance it, and we cannot afford to finance the cost of living for a global population of students while they are here. Germany can offer education, but not welfare to all.
If one can accept these conditions, then studying in Germany can be a great experience. For those who cannot afford to finance their daily lives, there are scholarships available for the better students. Those who would like to come for some kind of public support for their lives in general will be disappointed. That is unfortunate, as many talented people may not be able to realize their potential as a consequence. But that is also a problem that is beyond our means to solve today.
Tom Klein
I agree. I think it is the attitude that is Germany‘s greatest asset. So many of today’s problems are (relatively) easy to understand and to deal with when one takes a whole society, whole systems view of things, and thinks long-term over several generations.
Ozgur Zeren
“Germany is a competitive, capitalist and meritocratic culture”
Its a social democracy. If it wasnt, you would be paying ~$40,000 for a small healthcare operation and get in $100,000 student loan debt and so on.
Mark Rode
Of course we are capitalist. We have industry and other capital that enables this huge productuvity and wealth-creation. Germany is No Cambodia under the Khmer rouge. (The only real non-capitalist country in the last 150 years I heard about. As they destroyed all capital. Even North-Korea is capitalist - just state-monopoly capitalism, which is the worst form ofcapitalism in existence.) Germany is also mainly a free-market-economy. People/companies can buy what they want and sell what they want at prices agreed with the resp. trading partner. Which is the defintion of capitalism by most economic-textbooks in the US. Our German Social-democrats are NOT anti-capitalist in practice and only to some extent in theory.
Tom Klein
Thanks for the correction. I defer to your comment and have removed the term.
感謝指正。我接受你的評(píng)論并已刪除該術(shù)語(yǔ)。
Semar Manganov
Why do you need student loan while the school is free ?
如果學(xué)校是免費(fèi)的,你為什么還需要學(xué)生貸款呢?
Tom Klein
To pay for living expenses so that you don‘t have to work part-time and can spend you entire time studying. One should be able to live—frugally—on about €1000,-/month, depending where you are.
KC Krause
“Our culture is informed by Weber’s Protestant work ethic and by the understanding that we work to improve our collective well-being, and not just for personal advantage.”
Well said!
Ana Petkova
Everything is true, apart from the part that in other countries, you would end up with a huge dept. My daughter is German but spent her last years of high school in the US. For this, she receives an in-state tuition but what is important, all of her schoolmates with good grades pay virtually nothing for their higher education. Both private and state universities compete for their attention, and give them extremely high scholarships.
Furthermore, they receive money from state funds like Bright futures. So, if you belong at least to the better half of your class, you virtually pay nothing for higher education. I always thought this was only the case for top students, but this is not the case. And if you were not paying attention in school, either your parents have the money or you take a credit. But this is only fair. So there is a direct distribution of the money to the ones who would create the nation’s future, also in students from really poor countries.
In Germany, tax payer covers it all but then one third of the students have to leave because pf not taking their exams, it is actually a mess. In combination with bad service, overfilled lecture halls, etc. Of course, the 5% super smart and super motivated always make it but somehow, so much potential is lost.
Tom Klein
Good to hear about the options in the U.S. Since writing this few years ago, the German education system has rapidly deteriorated, making what you describe in the U.S. sound attractive.
Karlos Daniel
It's interesting to notice that the US has the same Protestant work ethic and meritocratic spirit as the Germanic European countries and the other Anglo-Saxon countries (Canada, Australia and New Zealand) but didn't manage to have neither public fund education nor universal health care.
Ahmed Ahmedov
If education in Germany is free and good, then why doesn't everybody go there to study ?
First of all, language barrier is one of the most prominent factors. Secondly, despite the fact that the German Universities are of high quality, most of them still cannot enter Top-100. That list is still dominated by the US and UK universities.
Third reason is the lack of international environment in most universities.
And finally, racism. I had a friend with a brown skin who literally hated his 3 years of study in Dresden. People used to flip fingers to him on the street, yell racial slurs etc.
Dietmar Georg
If education in Germany is free and good, then why doesn't everybody go there to study ?
The biggest hurdle for foreign students appear to be the language requirement. Very few non-German students speak German or desire to speak the primary language of instruction. In my estimation German Universities are slow to add non-German instruction (primarily courses taught in English). There is little benefit to them to attract more non-German students as the vast majority of them are non-profit institutions who rely mostly on taxpayer funding.
Anonymous
If education in Germany is free and good, then why doesn't everybody go there to study ?
Nothing is really free, you basically already pay for it through other expenses. In the Netherlands, tuition is €2000 per year. Let us compare by using this as an anchor.
Suppose that the average amount of expenses is around €800. In Germany this should be slightly more due to higher rents, TV tax, higher insurance costs, etc. so let us say €900. Also the tuition in Germany is not exactly free, you pay around €150 for thestudent unx and public transport. Also you can often pay around €200 for extended public transportation. This is per semester, so brings us to €700 per year.
Now if you are going to study for one year in both countries, what will be the amount of expenses? 12 * 800 + 2000 = 11600 in the Netherlands and 12 * 900 + 700 = 11500 in Germany. In other words, hardly any difference. This may of course not be exact numbers but what I am trying to get across is that your total amount of expenses should not differ so much.
Germany likes to market their universities as free since it will attract students, but if you know something about marketing then you know that ‘free’ is never really free, you will pay for it somehow anyway.
However, it has to be noted that German education is cheaper than for example in the UK or the US where the tuition fees alone may exceed the total amount of annual expenses in Germany. Also the €2000 fee in the Netherlands is for EU-citizens only, otherwise you pay €10000. Germany does not have this difference.
Apart from the money, there are a few more factors that may play a role why not everyone goes there. One is the language, which many non-Germans don’t speak at least at the C1 level. Second is the fact that most universities have their Bachelor’s in German only and a lot have their Master’s only in German as well. Then there is the NC (Numerus Clausus) at some universities which puts a restriction on the amount of students that can join the program. That way, even if people want to join a German university, they may often find themselves disappointed because there just aren’t enough places for them.
If education in Germany is free and good, then why doesn't everybody go there to study ?
I am fascinated by the ambivalence in many of the answers in how Germany‘s offer of ?free“ education is experienced. Many writers appreciate the opportunity of not having to pay for their lectures and degrees. But there is an undertone of disappointment among others that ?free“ does not apply to the whole experience of being in Germany.
It might be helpful to talk about expectations for someone considering coming to Germany to study, as a number of writers see a mismatch between the promise of ?free“ education and the cultural assumptions about how study and work in Germany are understood.
如果德國(guó)的教育既免費(fèi)又優(yōu)質(zhì),那么為什么不是每個(gè)人都選擇去那里學(xué)習(xí)呢?
關(guān)于人們?nèi)绾误w驗(yàn)德國(guó)提供的“免費(fèi)”教育,許多回答中存在矛盾心理,這讓我很著迷。許多作者對(duì)于不必為講座和學(xué)位支付費(fèi)用的機(jī)會(huì)表示贊賞。但在其他人的回答中,卻有一種失望的基調(diào),即“免費(fèi)”并不涵蓋在德國(guó)的整體體驗(yàn)。
對(duì)于考慮來(lái)德國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)的人來(lái)說(shuō),討論一下他們的期望可能是有幫助的,因?yàn)樵S多作者認(rèn)為“免費(fèi)”教育的承諾與對(duì)德國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)和工作方式的文化理解之間存在差異。
To succeed here takes commitment, focus and discipline. While education is virtually free, life is most definitely not. When you come to Germany, you are invited to participate in the opportunities that its vibrant educational-research-industrial complex brings with it, but the basic expectation is that you are going to have to prove yourself on many levels to take advantage of it.
Learning German is one of the commitments one has to make to partake in the opportunities. When I came to Germany with a scholarship, I read grammar books in my spare time, and taught English as a second language on the side to earn money to pay for my life. If, to take one example, you are studying in a technology field, there is a vast need for programming and design through which one can earn a basic income. The opportunies exist, but one must be willing to take them.
德國(guó)擁有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈且以成績(jī)?yōu)橹鲗?dǎo)的文化。我們的文化受到韋伯新教職業(yè)道德的影響,我們工作是為了改善我們的集體福祉,而不僅僅是為了個(gè)人利益。
在這里取得成功需要承諾、專注和自律。雖然教育幾乎免費(fèi),但生活費(fèi)用絕對(duì)不是免費(fèi)的。當(dāng)你來(lái)到德國(guó),你會(huì)有機(jī)會(huì)參與到這個(gè)國(guó)家繁榮的教育、研究和工業(yè)體系所帶來(lái)的機(jī)遇之中,但基本的期望是你將在許多方面證明自己,以便能夠充分利用這些機(jī)遇。
掌握德語(yǔ)是抓住機(jī)遇所必須做出的一項(xiàng)承諾。當(dāng)我獲得獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金來(lái)到德國(guó)時(shí),我會(huì)在空閑時(shí)間閱讀語(yǔ)法書籍,并且兼職教授英語(yǔ)以賺取生活費(fèi)用。以一個(gè)例子來(lái)說(shuō),如果你在技術(shù)領(lǐng)域?qū)W習(xí),編程和設(shè)計(jì)方面有很大的需求,你可以通過(guò)這些途徑賺取基本的收入來(lái)滿足它。機(jī)會(huì)是有的,但你必須愿意去把握它們。
在德國(guó),免費(fèi)提供教育的政治共識(shí)與其說(shuō)是一個(gè)福利國(guó)家的共識(shí),它讓公民和客人不必為生存而努力,不如說(shuō)是一個(gè)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)社會(huì)的共識(shí),它對(duì)投資我們的未來(lái)有現(xiàn)實(shí)的認(rèn)識(shí),并提供公眾支持以增加成功的機(jī)會(huì)。
我們明白,如果我們不向每個(gè)人提供教育機(jī)會(huì),我們就會(huì)失去重要的人才,而且通過(guò)在他們職業(yè)生涯的開(kāi)始就給學(xué)生帶來(lái)沉重的債務(wù)負(fù)擔(dān),對(duì)社會(huì)沒(méi)有任何好處,因?yàn)檫@些錢導(dǎo)致他們無(wú)法投資于住房、汽車或他人謀生的娛樂(lè)。但要清楚,我們提供的不是福利。我們非常期望我們培養(yǎng)的人在他們的生活中取得成功,這樣他們就可以納稅并幫助資助下一代學(xué)生、資助那些為他們的教育付費(fèi)的人的退休生活。至少,我們希望那些返回自己國(guó)家的人已經(jīng)與德國(guó)的政府和企業(yè)建立了良好的聯(lián)系,并將與我們共同努力,與他們的國(guó)家建立聯(lián)系。
原創(chuàng)翻譯:龍騰網(wǎng) http://top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處
For foreigners, we provide the same conditions for education as for Germans, but social support is understandably limited to scholarships, as public support for basic life needs is sustainable only within the borders in which the taxes are payed to finance it, and we cannot afford to finance the cost of living for a global population of students while they are here. Germany can offer education, but not welfare to all.
對(duì)于德國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō),接受教育的權(quán)利是由公共資金支持的。如果你不能通過(guò)家庭資源或?qū)W生工作來(lái)支持自己,有許多支持項(xiàng)目可以確保你有機(jī)會(huì)接受教育。
對(duì)于外國(guó)學(xué)生,我們提供與德國(guó)學(xué)生相同的教育條件,但社會(huì)支持主要限于獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金形式。這是因?yàn)榛旧钚枨蟮墓苍荒茉诙愂账采w的國(guó)界內(nèi)維持,我們沒(méi)有能力為全球?qū)W生群體在這里的生活費(fèi)用提供資金支持。德國(guó)可以為學(xué)生提供教育機(jī)會(huì),但無(wú)法為所有人提供福利援助。
如果能接受這些條件,那么在德國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)將是一段極好的體驗(yàn)。對(duì)于那些無(wú)力負(fù)擔(dān)日常生活費(fèi)用的學(xué)生,有獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金可以申請(qǐng),特別是對(duì)于那些表現(xiàn)優(yōu)異的學(xué)生。而那些期待獲得一般性公共生活支持的人可能會(huì)感到失望。這確實(shí)令人遺憾,因?yàn)檫@意味著許多有才能的人可能因此無(wú)法充分發(fā)揮其潛力。但這也是我們目前力所不能及的問(wèn)題。
Excellent answer! Collective well-being can be a difficult concept for some foreigners though.
精彩的回答!不過(guò),集體福祉這個(gè)概念對(duì)于一些外國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)可能難以理解。
I agree. I think it is the attitude that is Germany‘s greatest asset. So many of today’s problems are (relatively) easy to understand and to deal with when one takes a whole society, whole systems view of things, and thinks long-term over several generations.
我同意。我認(rèn)為德國(guó)最寶貴的財(cái)富是其國(guó)民的態(tài)度。當(dāng)我們從整個(gè)社會(huì)、整個(gè)系統(tǒng)的視角來(lái)看待問(wèn)題,并跨越幾代人進(jìn)行長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)思考時(shí),相對(duì)而言,許多當(dāng)今的問(wèn)題就容易理解并處理了。
“Germany is a competitive, capitalist and meritocratic culture”
Its a social democracy. If it wasnt, you would be paying ~$40,000 for a small healthcare operation and get in $100,000 student loan debt and so on.
德國(guó)是一個(gè)充滿競(jìng)爭(zhēng)、資本主義和精英統(tǒng)治的文化
德國(guó)是一個(gè)社會(huì)民主國(guó)家。如果不是這樣,你可能需要為一次小型醫(yī)療手術(shù)支付約40,000美元,并且背負(fù)100,000美元的學(xué)生貸款債務(wù)等等。
Of course we are capitalist. We have industry and other capital that enables this huge productuvity and wealth-creation. Germany is No Cambodia under the Khmer rouge. (The only real non-capitalist country in the last 150 years I heard about. As they destroyed all capital. Even North-Korea is capitalist - just state-monopoly capitalism, which is the worst form ofcapitalism in existence.) Germany is also mainly a free-market-economy. People/companies can buy what they want and sell what they want at prices agreed with the resp. trading partner. Which is the defintion of capitalism by most economic-textbooks in the US. Our German Social-democrats are NOT anti-capitalist in practice and only to some extent in theory.
我們當(dāng)然是資本主義國(guó)家。我們擁有推動(dòng)巨大生產(chǎn)力和財(cái)富創(chuàng)造的工業(yè)和其他資本。德國(guó)不是紅色高棉統(tǒng)治下的柬埔寨。(在過(guò)去150年里我聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)的唯一一個(gè)真正的非資本主義國(guó)家。因?yàn)樗麄兇輾Я怂匈Y本。即使是朝鮮也是資本主義的——只是國(guó)家壟斷資本主義,這是現(xiàn)存最糟糕的資本主義形式。)德國(guó)也是一個(gè)主要的自由市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)體。人們/公司可以按與交易伙伴商定的價(jià)格購(gòu)買他們想要的東西,出售他們想要的東西。這在大多數(shù)美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)教科書中被定義為資本主義。我們的德國(guó)社會(huì)民主黨在實(shí)踐中并不是反資本主義的,理論上也只是在一定程度上反資本主義。
Thanks for the correction. I defer to your comment and have removed the term.
感謝指正。我接受你的評(píng)論并已刪除該術(shù)語(yǔ)。
Why do you need student loan while the school is free ?
如果學(xué)校是免費(fèi)的,你為什么還需要學(xué)生貸款呢?
To pay for living expenses so that you don‘t have to work part-time and can spend you entire time studying. One should be able to live—frugally—on about €1000,-/month, depending where you are.
用來(lái)支付生活費(fèi)用,這樣你就不用兼職工作,可以全身心投入學(xué)習(xí)。一個(gè)人應(yīng)該能夠在大約每月1000歐元的預(yù)算下生活——這取決于你所在的地區(qū)。
原創(chuàng)翻譯:龍騰網(wǎng) http://top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處
Beautifully explained !
解釋得非常清楚!
“Our culture is informed by Weber’s Protestant work ethic and by the understanding that we work to improve our collective well-being, and not just for personal advantage.”
Well said!
“我們的文化受到韋伯的新教工作倫理的影響,我們工作是為了提高我們的集體福祉,而不僅僅是為了個(gè)人利益。”
說(shuō)得好!
Everything is true, apart from the part that in other countries, you would end up with a huge dept. My daughter is German but spent her last years of high school in the US. For this, she receives an in-state tuition but what is important, all of her schoolmates with good grades pay virtually nothing for their higher education. Both private and state universities compete for their attention, and give them extremely high scholarships.
除了一點(diǎn)之外,其他說(shuō)的都是事實(shí):在其他國(guó)家,你不會(huì)背負(fù)巨額債務(wù)。我的女兒是德國(guó)人,但她在美國(guó)完成了她高中的最后幾年。因此,她享受州內(nèi)學(xué)生的學(xué)費(fèi)待遇,但更重要的是,所有成績(jī)優(yōu)異的同學(xué)幾乎不需要為他們自己的高等教育支付費(fèi)用。無(wú)論是私立還是州立大學(xué)都在爭(zhēng)相吸引他們的注意,并為他們提供高額的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。
此外,他們還從像"光明的未來(lái)(Bright Futures)"這樣的州基金中獲得資金。所以,如果你至少屬于班級(jí)中表現(xiàn)較好的一半,你幾乎不用為高等教育支付任何費(fèi)用。我一直以為這只是頂尖學(xué)生的情況,但事實(shí)并非如此。如果你在學(xué)校不專心,要么你的父母有錢,要么你就得貸款,但這是公平的。因此,資金直接分配給那些為國(guó)家創(chuàng)造未來(lái)的人,也包括來(lái)自真正貧困國(guó)家的留學(xué)生。
在德國(guó),納稅人承擔(dān)了一切,但三分之一的學(xué)生因?yàn)椴粎⒓涌荚嚩坏貌浑x開(kāi),這實(shí)際上是一團(tuán)糟。再加上糟糕的服務(wù)、擁擠的講堂等。當(dāng)然,那5%非常聰明和非常有動(dòng)力的人總是能成功,但不知何故,如此多的潛力被浪費(fèi)了。
Good to hear about the options in the U.S. Since writing this few years ago, the German education system has rapidly deteriorated, making what you describe in the U.S. sound attractive.
很高興聽(tīng)到美國(guó)的選擇。自從幾年前寫這篇文章以來(lái),德國(guó)的教育體系迅速惡化,使得你描述的美國(guó)的教育情況聽(tīng)起來(lái)很有吸引力。
原創(chuàng)翻譯:龍騰網(wǎng) http://top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處
It's interesting to notice that the US has the same Protestant work ethic and meritocratic spirit as the Germanic European countries and the other Anglo-Saxon countries (Canada, Australia and New Zealand) but didn't manage to have neither public fund education nor universal health care.
有趣的是,美國(guó)與日耳曼歐洲國(guó)家和其他盎格魯-撒克遜國(guó)家(加拿大、澳大利亞和新西蘭)一樣,擁有相同的新教工作倫理和精英精神,但卻沒(méi)有實(shí)現(xiàn)公共基金教育或全民醫(yī)療保健。
If education in Germany is free and good, then why doesn't everybody go there to study ?
First of all, language barrier is one of the most prominent factors. Secondly, despite the fact that the German Universities are of high quality, most of them still cannot enter Top-100. That list is still dominated by the US and UK universities.
Third reason is the lack of international environment in most universities.
And finally, racism. I had a friend with a brown skin who literally hated his 3 years of study in Dresden. People used to flip fingers to him on the street, yell racial slurs etc.
如果德國(guó)的教育是免費(fèi)且優(yōu)質(zhì)的,那么為什么不是每個(gè)人都去那里學(xué)習(xí)呢?
首先,語(yǔ)言障礙是最突出的因素之一。其次,盡管德國(guó)大學(xué)質(zhì)量很高,但它們中的大多數(shù)學(xué)校仍然無(wú)法進(jìn)入前100名。那個(gè)名單仍然由美國(guó)和英國(guó)大學(xué)主導(dǎo)。
第三個(gè)原因是大多數(shù)大學(xué)缺乏國(guó)際環(huán)境。
最后,種族主義。我有一個(gè)朋友皮膚較黑,他真的討厭他在德累斯頓的那3年學(xué)習(xí)生活。在街上人們對(duì)他豎中指,大喊種族歧視的口號(hào)等等。
If education in Germany is free and good, then why doesn't everybody go there to study ?
The biggest hurdle for foreign students appear to be the language requirement. Very few non-German students speak German or desire to speak the primary language of instruction. In my estimation German Universities are slow to add non-German instruction (primarily courses taught in English). There is little benefit to them to attract more non-German students as the vast majority of them are non-profit institutions who rely mostly on taxpayer funding.
如果德國(guó)的教育既免費(fèi)又優(yōu)質(zhì),那么為什么不是每個(gè)人都選擇去那里學(xué)習(xí)呢?
對(duì)外國(guó)學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō),最大的障礙似乎是語(yǔ)言要求。很少有非德國(guó)學(xué)生說(shuō)德語(yǔ),或者希望以德語(yǔ)作為主要的教學(xué)語(yǔ)言。據(jù)我估計(jì),德國(guó)大學(xué)在增加非德語(yǔ)授課(主要是英語(yǔ)授課的課程)方面進(jìn)展緩慢。對(duì)于它們來(lái)說(shuō),吸引更多非德國(guó)學(xué)生并沒(méi)有太多好處,因?yàn)樗鼈兇蠖嗍欠菭I(yíng)利機(jī)構(gòu),主要依賴于納稅人的資金。
If education in Germany is free and good, then why doesn't everybody go there to study ?
Nothing is really free, you basically already pay for it through other expenses. In the Netherlands, tuition is €2000 per year. Let us compare by using this as an anchor.
Suppose that the average amount of expenses is around €800. In Germany this should be slightly more due to higher rents, TV tax, higher insurance costs, etc. so let us say €900. Also the tuition in Germany is not exactly free, you pay around €150 for thestudent unx and public transport. Also you can often pay around €200 for extended public transportation. This is per semester, so brings us to €700 per year.
如果德國(guó)的教育既免費(fèi)又優(yōu)質(zhì),那么為什么不是每個(gè)人都去那里學(xué)習(xí)呢?
實(shí)際上沒(méi)有什么是真正免費(fèi)的,你基本上是通過(guò)其他費(fèi)用已經(jīng)支付了。在荷蘭,學(xué)費(fèi)每年大約是2000歐元。我們以這個(gè)數(shù)字作為基準(zhǔn)來(lái)比較。
假設(shè)平均開(kāi)銷大約是800歐元。在德國(guó),由于租金更高、電視稅、保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)用更高等因素,這個(gè)數(shù)字應(yīng)該稍高一些,我們姑且估計(jì)為900歐元。此外,德國(guó)的學(xué)費(fèi)并非完全免費(fèi),你需要支付大約150歐元給學(xué)生會(huì)和公共交通。有時(shí)你還需要支付大約200歐元用于擴(kuò)展公共交通服務(wù)。這是每學(xué)期的費(fèi)用,所以每年總共是700歐元。
Germany likes to market their universities as free since it will attract students, but if you know something about marketing then you know that ‘free’ is never really free, you will pay for it somehow anyway.
現(xiàn)在,如果你在這兩個(gè)國(guó)家學(xué)習(xí)一年,你的總開(kāi)銷會(huì)是多少?在荷蘭是12 * 800 + 2000 = 11600歐元,而在德國(guó)是12 * 900 + 700 = 11500歐元。換句話說(shuō),幾乎沒(méi)有什么差別。當(dāng)然,這些數(shù)字可能并不精確,但我試圖表達(dá)的是,你的總開(kāi)銷應(yīng)該不會(huì)有太大差異。
德國(guó)喜歡將他們的大學(xué)宣傳為免費(fèi),因?yàn)檫@能夠吸引學(xué)生,但如果你了解市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷,你就會(huì)知道“免費(fèi)”實(shí)際上并不是真的免費(fèi),你總會(huì)以某種方式為此付出代價(jià)。
然而,必須指出的是,德國(guó)的教育費(fèi)用確實(shí)比英國(guó)或美國(guó)要低,在英國(guó)或美國(guó),單是學(xué)費(fèi)就可能超過(guò)在德國(guó)一年的總費(fèi)用。荷蘭的2000歐元學(xué)費(fèi)只適用于歐盟公民,對(duì)于其他人來(lái)說(shuō)是10000歐元,德國(guó)則沒(méi)有這樣的區(qū)別。
除了費(fèi)用問(wèn)題,還有一些其他因素可能會(huì)影響人們選擇不去德國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)。一是語(yǔ)言問(wèn)題,許多非德國(guó)人德語(yǔ)水平并不會(huì)達(dá)到C1水平。第二,大多數(shù)大學(xué)只有德語(yǔ)授課的本科課程,很多甚至只有德語(yǔ)授課的碩士課程。再者,一些大學(xué)設(shè)有名額限制,限制了可以加入該課程的學(xué)生數(shù)量。這樣一來(lái),即使人們想申請(qǐng)德國(guó)大學(xué),他們可能常常發(fā)現(xiàn)自己失望,因?yàn)楦緵](méi)有足夠的學(xué)位。