Free Education for Everyone?
Germany is running a university system without tuition fees, opening universities to students from all over the world. Economists do confirm that it actually makes sense.
There is no such thing as a free lunch, so how can there be a free higher education system? In fact somebody has to cover the costs: university buildings need to be maintained, professors, lecturers, administrators and caretakers want to be paid, books must be bought and electricity is not for free either. On average, every student in Germany costs about 450’000 THB per year. Some subject areas like Law, Business or Languages are relatively cheap, because they require little infrastructure, but Natural Sciences or Medicine can cost more than one million Baht per student per year.
Education is an investment
Public spending in higher education is expensive, but it creates an excellent return on investment both for the student and for the public. Graduates earn more money, they produce a higher share of our GDP, pay more taxes, are less likely to be unemployed, live longer and healthier. Economists estimate that money invested in higher education yields an annual return of nearly ten per cent. But of course universities are more than just an investment: they drive innovation and entrepreneurship; the universities in Berlin alone initiate nearly 100 start-ups per year with more than 3000 employees.
Even foreigners don’t pay fees
Most countries charge higher tuition fees for foreign students because these foreign graduates might just return to their home countries with the benefit. We all know, there is more to academic life than purely economic value.
In times of tight public budgets and austerity measures in Europe, the ministry for education and research initiated a study to find out how expensive foreign students actually are for the taxpayer. The surprising finding was that in fact they pay for themselves.
Foreign students re-finance themselves
Students spend their money in Germany, pay VAT and create jobs at the universities. Many students pick up a part-time job and work during their studies or even for a few years after graduation. Right now we probably break even with public spending and tax revenue created by foreign students.
Students bringing change by exchange
Foreign guests broaden our perspective, foreign researchers make our labs more successful, and foreign exchange opens opportunities for our own students. More than a third of all German students study abroad at some point in their career. They come back with international experience and expertise. When our former guest students return to their home countries, they usually convey a very positive image of Germany as their former host country. Some of them act as good-will ambassadors and mediators between our cultures – and that’s definitely worth losing out on tuition fees once in a while.