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Comment by teawrecks | Hacker News Reader

Meanwhile in most of Europe, college is free. I wonder how their attendance rates have fared in comparison.

It is my understanding (based on what I know of Germany) that only certain degrees (mostly STEM) are free, and available to students who qualify (academically).

That’s fair. If someone wants to get a degree in a “field” that is not contributing to the society’s GDP, the degree is most likely only good as a signaling device for its holder. Paying their signaling cost out of the tax payer’s pocket is lunacy.

I recall that in France and Italy, tuition wasn't free, but it was on the order of ~200-300 euros per year. STEM degree tuition cost more since those students had more expensive facilities like laboratories.

Take this anecdata with a grain of salt; it's nearly 20 years old.

It's free if you're poor, otherwise it's cheap (think 3-5k€ per year).

The European governments didn't distort the market to make universities as grand and expensive as the American ones (where the price raised 1500% since the 80s).

European universities are sad places which get the job done for relatively little money. You're still spending 3-5+ years of your life though, and that's a currency you can't earn more of.

European universities are sad places? That's a broad and completely unfair brush to paint an entire continent with.

He said European universities are sad places, that get the job done. American universities are totally awesome places, with $10 million student centers and $20 million athletic facilities, they get the job done at a far, far higher cost to students.

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