A university degree is no longer the preserve of professionals or a necessary qualification for only specific specialised lines of work. In fact, for this generation it is a basic prerequisite for almost any job. It’s become a hoop that almost anyone looking for a solid career has to jump through, but it’s becoming increasingly expensive.
With tuition fees set to rise to a staggering £9,000 for the majority of universities in 2012, we’ve been looking around to see if there are any cheaper ways to get a degree without being saddled with tens of thousands of pounds of debt.
Studying abroad
The idea of going to a different country to study a degree is not something that most people consider as people usually associate it with huge tuition fees. I mean just look at the poor international students in the UK that pay in excess of £12,000 per year to study here. But like many other areas, we Brits insist on doing things differently than our neighbours.
Germany has a state funded education system that also applies in many cases to foreign students, which means you can study a degree absolutely FREE. Nada, zip, not even a penny! Also, many of its universities offer a large array of courses in English and have excellent academic traditions. Like in all universities there is competition for places, and very strong competition for the best places, so while the education might be free don’t expect you can just turn up and grab a spot.
You will have to pay for accommodation (they’re not that generous!), but students in Germany receive excellent travel discounts and other benefits which really does make it an excellent place to study.
Other European countries also offer favorable rates to international students, often much below the £9,000 to be charged in the UK. In Scandinavia there are still free universities, and Holland offers cheap tuition for many courses, particularly at the post-graduate level. As in Germany, many of the courses are offered (sometimes exclusively) in English and you get a whole raft of benefits and discounts as a student.
Apart from the savings, another benefit of studying abroad is gaining an extra language. Being multilingual is becoming an increasingly in demand skill for those competing for the best jobs in a globalised business climate and puts you in a minority in terms of British graduates who usually only speak English. What better way to learn than studying abroad in a foreign university.