christiefan915
Catalyst
I heard this on NPR and thought it was fantastic. Never would the US do this, even for American students only.
"After a tough day at Cherry Creek High School, junior Claire Becker likes to go home and do what a lot of other teens do -- watch television. One major difference though: Becker watches her favorite shows in German. “I’m very taken with the language,” says Becker. Becker is also frugal -- very frugal. When she heard she could attend a university in Germany, “without being buried in crippling financial debt,” she leapt at the chance. “The thought of putting my family in a position to have to assist me with that, or to put myself in that position, is honestly a huge cause of anxiety for me,” she says.
University is funded by German taxpayers. And foreign students, who make up about 10 percent of Germany’s student body, pay the same price as natives: nothing.
It is a concept Stefan Biedermann, Germany’s deputy consul general in Los Angeles, says many Americans struggle to understand. “The faces that I see say, ‘I don’t believe you, there must be strings attached---like a mobile phone contract for the first three months are free, and later on you don’t know what’s happening.' That’s not the case. It’s the truth.”
At a recent information session in Denver for parents and prospective students, Biedermann, the deputy consul general, warned parents that the language isn't easy.
“Learning German is really a challenge,” he says. “And your kids will tell you, German grammar is hell."
At a recent information session in Denver for parents and prospective students, Biedermann, the deputy consul general, warned parents that the language isn't easy.
“Learning German is really a challenge,” he says. “And your kids will tell you, German grammar is hell."
At a recent information session in Denver for parents and prospective students, Biedermann, the deputy consul general, warned parents that the language isn't easy. “Learning German is
really a challenge,” he says. “And your kids will tell you, German grammar is hell." Hanni Geist with the German Academic Exchange Service introduces them to a website that describes the various programs at Germany’s 400 universities. There are even degree programs in English. But students here want to study in German. Geist tells them that the process of getting there is fairly simple.
Once a student like Claire Becker passes a German language test (Deutsches Sprachdiplom I and II), there are no letters of recommendations, volunteer work, or examples of citizenship that are required on applications to American universities – it’s the GPA that makes it or breaks it. “It’s the application and that’s it,” Geist says, explaining that each university may allot 10 to 20 percent of its spaces to international students. The German degrees are recognized in the U.S. Biedermann says Germany system of higher education is much more “uniform” than the United States...
Eventually, Biedermann gets the question he’s always asked - why do Germans foot the bill for everyone?
“We believe everybody has the right to get a decent education and in Germany people ask a lot from the government and for them it’s quite normal that the government pays for education and it should not be a question of the income of the parents,” he says. Biedermann says American students add to the diversity of intellectual life on campus, and when they return to the U.S., become citizen ambassadors for Germany.
(Continued)
https://www.cpr.org/news/story/thrifty-adventurous-colorado-students-look-germany-college
"After a tough day at Cherry Creek High School, junior Claire Becker likes to go home and do what a lot of other teens do -- watch television. One major difference though: Becker watches her favorite shows in German. “I’m very taken with the language,” says Becker. Becker is also frugal -- very frugal. When she heard she could attend a university in Germany, “without being buried in crippling financial debt,” she leapt at the chance. “The thought of putting my family in a position to have to assist me with that, or to put myself in that position, is honestly a huge cause of anxiety for me,” she says.
University is funded by German taxpayers. And foreign students, who make up about 10 percent of Germany’s student body, pay the same price as natives: nothing.
It is a concept Stefan Biedermann, Germany’s deputy consul general in Los Angeles, says many Americans struggle to understand. “The faces that I see say, ‘I don’t believe you, there must be strings attached---like a mobile phone contract for the first three months are free, and later on you don’t know what’s happening.' That’s not the case. It’s the truth.”
At a recent information session in Denver for parents and prospective students, Biedermann, the deputy consul general, warned parents that the language isn't easy.
“Learning German is really a challenge,” he says. “And your kids will tell you, German grammar is hell."
At a recent information session in Denver for parents and prospective students, Biedermann, the deputy consul general, warned parents that the language isn't easy.
“Learning German is really a challenge,” he says. “And your kids will tell you, German grammar is hell."
At a recent information session in Denver for parents and prospective students, Biedermann, the deputy consul general, warned parents that the language isn't easy. “Learning German is
really a challenge,” he says. “And your kids will tell you, German grammar is hell." Hanni Geist with the German Academic Exchange Service introduces them to a website that describes the various programs at Germany’s 400 universities. There are even degree programs in English. But students here want to study in German. Geist tells them that the process of getting there is fairly simple.
Once a student like Claire Becker passes a German language test (Deutsches Sprachdiplom I and II), there are no letters of recommendations, volunteer work, or examples of citizenship that are required on applications to American universities – it’s the GPA that makes it or breaks it. “It’s the application and that’s it,” Geist says, explaining that each university may allot 10 to 20 percent of its spaces to international students. The German degrees are recognized in the U.S. Biedermann says Germany system of higher education is much more “uniform” than the United States...
Eventually, Biedermann gets the question he’s always asked - why do Germans foot the bill for everyone?
“We believe everybody has the right to get a decent education and in Germany people ask a lot from the government and for them it’s quite normal that the government pays for education and it should not be a question of the income of the parents,” he says. Biedermann says American students add to the diversity of intellectual life on campus, and when they return to the U.S., become citizen ambassadors for Germany.
(Continued)
https://www.cpr.org/news/story/thrifty-adventurous-colorado-students-look-germany-college
