Comment by GFischer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by GFischer | Hacker News Reader

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"In some countries, you don't even have the OPTION to take out a loan to go to school"

In some countries, like mine (Uruguay) university-level education is free :) (though postgraduate studies are paid).

I think China is the biggest example of free university education. EDIT: I was wrong, about U$ 2000/year and rising apparently.

At least our bazillion psychologists and communication majors (equivalent to the dreaded "English majors" in the U.S.) are not saddled with debt, though a non-specialist psychologist can expect to earn less than a store clerk or McDonald's employee.

Continuing edit: Sweden and other countries also have "free" college education:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/05/the...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_education

List of countries with free post-secondary education (from Wikipedia)

Algeria

Argentina

Bhutan

Cuba

Denmark

Egypt

Estonia

Finland

France

Greece

Italy

India

Malta

Mauritius

Morocco

Norway

Oman

Pakistan

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Scotland

Spain

Sri Lanka

Trinidad and Tobago

Turkey

Barbados

Kenya

United Arab Emirates

Uruguay

I was wrong about China, but apparently it is free in India.

One major difference is that here in Uruguay you don't have entrance exams, and it's free for foreigners (we get several Chilean students, where it is not free).

Brazil is missing from that list. BTW, here the public schools are the best (universities that is, public basic education is horrible).

However, the rich still benefit from the system. Here's how it works:

1) Kids with money go to the best prep-schools and get in the public universities through hard entrance exams. 2) Kids that can't get in the public system, but still have money, can pay for medium-level education. 3) Kids with no money due to poor basic education can't get into a public university and can't afford a private alternative.

> I was wrong about China, but apparently it is free in India.

Yeah, if you can get into the limited government education programs. Most people pay oodles of money to be educated in private colleges 'affiliated' to universities.

Let's take the example of Tamil Nadu (a prosperous Southern state in India). Compare the colleges that comprise Anna University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_University#Campus_and_coll...) and the colleges _affiliated_ to Anna University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Colleges_%26_Institutio...).

>> I was wrong about China, but apparently it is free in India.

Education is NOT free in India, has never been. This is exactly why Wikipedia should not be a citation source. Anyone can edit wrong information and it never gets corrected, perpetuating wrong information. Here are better links to newspaper articles: * http://www.indianexpress.com/news/from-unemployment-to-innov... * http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/who-should-be-ente... * http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/financial-muscle-buys-... * An earlier HN thread "Students are the victims and culprits of India’s broken higher education system", https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5756142 , http://qz.com/86903/students-are-the-victims-and-culprits-of... * An Open Letter to India’s Graduating Classes, By MOHIT CHANDRA, http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/an-open-letter-to-...

In India, some government education institutes are heavily subsidized (think IIT and the state REC's) but the rest of the private colleges you have to BUY seats - so your parents financial clout decides if you get to study at a good university or NOT.

Edit: Ironically, Wikipedia has a page on Capitation fees in India: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitation_fee#Capitation_fees...

The thing about China and possibly several other countries on your list is that while college is cheap (or free), the number of students accepted are very low. So for example only the top 10% (or 1%) of high school students even get the option to go to college. So competition in high school is very fierce to get one of the college slots and not end up with a factory job.

(And I imagine money can be used to "open" a spot, but that won't appear in tuition summaries.)

> I was wrong about China, but apparently it is free in India.

Education has NEVER been free in India. You have to pay a lot of money at the University level. Almost all education is now privatized.

Germany, OTOH, has FREE education upto the PhD level and it does not figure on the Wikipedia page - This is exactly why Wikipedia should not be a citation source. People submit wrong information and it never gets corrected, perpetuating lies.

University education in China is not free, they have tuition costs as well.

Sorry, I must have wrong information :( .

I'm 100% sure we don't have tuition here in Uruguay, and poorer students get state help.

However, five years after you graduate, you have to pay a mandatory special "university graduate tax" called "Fondo de Solidaridad" which helps pay for the poorer students, etc., so I guess it is a form of debt :) .

It's about U$ 200 every six months currently.

Is that $200 ever six months in perpetuity or does it stop at some point?

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