All German Universities Are Now Tuition-Free

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If you want a college education but not the expensive tuition that goes with it, you may want to consider attending a university in Germany, where tuition is free.

According to the International Business Times, universities in Lower Saxony, the last German state where universities charged students tuition, have joined the rest of the country in eliminating all tuition fees. Dorothee Stapelfeldt, Hamburg senator for science, said:

Tuition fees are socially unjust. … They particularly discourage young people who do not have a traditional academic family background from taking up studies. It is a core task of politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high quality standard free of charge in Germany.

Germany’s colleges were free in the past. But a 2006 court decision said that “collecting fees didn’t breach Germany’s commitment to universal post-secondary education,” IBTimes said, and tuition of 1,000 euros a year was charged. Opposition caused other German states to drop it. Lower Saxony was the final holdout.

Germany isn’t the only country to offer free college to students. Click here to see Consumer Report’s compilation of tuition-free universities abroad, and here for a list of free colleges in the U.S.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., student loan debt is at an all-time high.

What do you think of Germany’s tuition-free university system? Share your thoughts below or on our Facebook page.

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