And a higher tax rate (on average), correct?
WowâŠjust wow. So tertiary entry rate in Germany has overtaken the US by more than ten percentage points, and its partly about affordability, but maybe even more so about kids wanting or needing to earn money right out of high school and seeking vocational certification. The areas the German system had originally going for it. I wonder whatâs going to happen - will the pendulum swing back in Germany, too?
And how could community colleges and small regional colleges tap into that market, seeking cooperation with local employers?
I guess itâs all good,if thatâs what those young men want or need at this point in life - as long as they do gain recognised certifications they can use to move between employers and arenât stuck with the one they were hired and trained by right out of high school. No dead ends.
I so wish politicians would look more to what things do and donât work in other countries. A wealth of experiences at their fingertips.
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I think this is also a misconception. I will try to find OECD stats later. Edited because Iâve found the statistics and the tax rate is quite a bit lower. A lot more private funding in the US system is thus a consequence.
The point stands that German universities are funded at much lower levels per student. (And US students would hate them).
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Note that I wrote they love the idea of US colleges, Iâve hung out here long enough to know that for most, the reality is a bit differentâŠ(but Iâve definitely seen the cozy ones!)
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Germany also has a much higher population density than the US, which means that it is easier to place universities within commute range of as large a portion of the population as possible.
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We know someone from Germany and maybe can explain it this way. Germanyâs public school system is very well structured from a young age. By the time, they are 19, they are either have completed a vocational trade program (ready to work) or are going to free public undergrad. What hasnât been mentioned is the concept of âuniversity sportsâ is really not a German thing or European thing for that matter.
It is also a cultural choice, paying higher taxes is not really an issue for many who enjoy the benefits of lower cost health care and free education. Without checking the stats, I would suspect the willingness to take on debt is dramatically different in North America versus Europe. The willingness to take on debt to pay for a US college education is also driving up the cost of it.
As pointed out, not everyone has a great US college experience or has realistic access to it.
Fyi @Tigerle is a German parent, living in Germany. And may â here my memory fails me â be working in German higher education.
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When my son attended a prep school in Canada, his guidance counselor kept pushing him towards an âadmissions consultantâ over and over again. We were not going to throw our money at that nonsense. I doubt very seriously that the âadmissions scandalâ was a one off. it still goes on, just there are better liars out there.
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The vast majority of independent college counselors are legit, meaning they are helping students with their apps and donât guarantee any admission outcomes. The vast majority arenât telling students to be untruthful/lying or otherwise involved in âscandalâ.
Last I saw the average US hourly rate for an independent college counselor was $175. There are also many independent college counselors who provide counseling for low income students thru the thousands of college access non-profits in the US. Just like in any profession, there are bad actors out there and/or those charging far higher than average ratesâŠeasy to avoid if one does their research.
Itâs fine if a counselor didnât make sense for your family, but thereâs no need to denigrate the entire profession.
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For folks who are passionately frustrated with the current system of US college admissions and who also feel that itâs not fair that many students canât afford to pay for an independent counselor to advise then through the admissions process, Iâd like to suggest that you consider volunteering your time with Scholar Match (https://scholarmatch.org/) to help guide a needy high school student whoâs applying to college.
Itâs a nonprofit organization which would enable/allow you to make a positive difference/change one student at a time. 
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Agree wholeheartedly.
The consultants in my neck of the woods are known for rather narrow specialties- the ones who are good toggling between divorced or divorcing parents to get clarity on the who/how much if it wasnât hashed out in court; the ones who are good helping a musician kid but who is not Julliard or Curtis quality land in the right place to develop both the musical and academic skills; the ones who help the parents of parochial school kids when the parents want a Catholic college and the kid says âIâm doneâ.
I donât think you can scream âFraudâ when a kid with solid stats lands at Stonehill or Providence, or assume that palms were greased when a talented musician who wants to major in history ends up at Muhlenberg.
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Thanks for mentioning Scholarmatch!
CC has a thread dedicated to identifying organizations like Scholarmatch that need people to help advise students on the admissions process.
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Iâm working in student financial aid - I call it âhigher education adjacentâ. 
(Specialising in international families, with occasional US parent in the mix).
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Isnât passing calculus to enter Tertiary a gate keeper?
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Not an artificial one if you want a universal entrance qualification for every university and conceivable major (which includes the premed program at med schools).
Iâm all for Calc, but itâs a gate-keeper pure and simple. (no different than xx years of Language)
US colleges do not require Calc, so they have to teach it. Moreover, many/most US colleges do not even admit Calc-ready students, so they have to remediate HS math (adding costs).
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I have attended and received degrees from both, a rural US SLAC and a German university, two very very very different experiences. Yet, both produce well educated and successful human beings.
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I agree Calc is a gatekeeper in Germany⊠same as it is in the US, at least at the highly rejective schools.
US colleges have to teach calc, because only about 50% of high schools even offer it.
While 50 percent of all high schools offer calculus, only 38 percent of high schools with predominantly Black or Latinx enrollment offer calculus (U.S. Department of Education, 2018). Students in rural areas are also less likely to have access to the course (Saw & Agger, 2021).
AndâŠOnly 16% of 2019 HS grads took calc (donât see more recent data, and obviously relatively more college going students would have taken calc in HS):
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/sod/high-school-courses
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well of course, thatâs a chicken and egg. If US colleges required/gave preferences to Calc, more high schools would offer it. But âadvancedâ math is discouraged beginning in middle school, both for didactic reasons as well as âequityâ which predominates in education.
I am denigrating guidance counselors trying to pitch a service when they should being doing their job.