Posted on 06/08/2014 3:08:06 PM PDT by Kaslin
Why go $40,000 to $100,000 or more in debt for a college education when studying in Europe will cost far less, possibly even be free, and you will pick up a foreign language or two in the process?
Please consider a response from reader Ivo in response to Co-Signing a Loan is Risky Business For You, Your Family, Your Heirs, Even the Borrower: More Student Loan Debt Slave Nightmares.
Ivo writes..
Hello Mish
Your points are generally correct, but at the same time, more and more students choose to study abroad. Why not get your degree from another country?
Also, I have co-signed a couple of student loans in Estonia, and feel pretty good about the loans as well as the people, especially in comparison to what's going on in the US.
My oldest son is studying film-making in one of Europe's newest and most modern film schools, located right here in Tallinn, for 3,400 EUR total per year. By the end of his BA, he'll be some 10,000 EUR in debt (I am paying some of his expenses), but has studied under internationally-known film-makers, has participated in several international film festivals with his own films, and has trained on cutting-edge equipment. Before he enrolled last fall, we did some research about his different options in different countries. In the USA, a similar program would have cost him $200,000 or more, tuition only.
So why should one study in the USA at all?
Apparently one of the reasons are regional licenses. You may not be able to get a job in California if your future profession requires a CA license, which you will automatically get from an expensive CA-based university (and which costs you and your family a life-long debt slavery). For example, California may not want to have anything to do with you if your degree is from Helsinki, Finland, even though you may have had many of the same teachers on a guest-tutor basis as you would have had in CA.
I think for many study areas, the regional licensing systems are one of the most important factors driving people into life-long debt servitude in the USA as people may be unable to get jobs if their degrees are from schools in different states or countries.
This definitely warrants some further research.
All the best,
Ivo
Advanced degrees in medical and dentistry in Europe may not be cheap, but they still are far cheaper than in the US as noted by the New York Times article Medical Students Head to Eastern Europe.
Regardless, if you cannot afford the cost of a US education, or even if you can, please research all your options instead of becoming another US debt slave statistic.
Any educators care to chime in on regional or foreign accreditation?
People should study in the US for any number of reasons... not the least of which is that at a good state school you will get a good education (yes even today) at a reasonable rate. IF you chose to go to some private or out of state university that is your own fault. Europe does not produce and really never will the well educated bachelor’s level graduate. IF you think US schools are dominated by the left and socialists don’t be shocked when you finally realize that all came out of European thinking during the 50s and 60s.
This is nonsense pure and simple. IF you want a college education then pick a profession where you need that training. Otherwise go to a good tech school or cosmetology school or the like. Not everyone needs a college degree. Engineers, medical professionals, others of that type need the rigors of a college degree.
Do not overlook the exchange rate, about $1.36 = 1.00 EUR
“Europe does not produce and really never will the well educated bachelor’s level graduate.”
I’m not so sure about this statement. And, there is the “not here” factor...for example, there are many states (including mine) where your “state” degree will be utterly invisible outside the state line. OTOH, the goobs here seem to be impressed by “furriners”...
I have a PhD from a university in China
By US Standards it is probably a 3rd rate degree. However because it is unusual I find that the degree is more valuable than a similar degree from a second tier State university. There is a certain wow factor to having that degree on my resume that sort of sets me apart from other candidates.
I've already "Gone Galt" on one business doing this practice, as I am sick and tired of the management of US companies shafting US citizens for the short-term, their own companies, and the US in particular in the long-term...
Lord knows, there's going to be hell to pay....
The reverse is also true.
I have personally known Middle Easterners (rich ones only) who traveled to the US to pick up a very impressive peace of parchment stating that they had earned a Doctorate in ‘Petroleum Science’ (or something nebulous) without spending one hour in a classroom in that unknown university. Ask them on question about crude oil and their answer is that they are late for a meeting.
All it took was lots of money and an ornately bound ‘dissertation’. I was asked to review and comment on the draft of one of their ‘research’ papers and all I found was a bunch of sentences from American technical trade journals copied, verbatim. It was ridicules and embarrassing to me.
These guys all end up in high positions in the oil industry and go around introducing themselves as “Doctor Mohammed ...” (fill in the blank) or whatever.
I have never heard of any of these universities who issued these useless ‘degrees’.
I have never noticed any reputable American university play these games.
Untrue in regards state degrees not being acknowledged.....Unless you are going to something that has NO accreditation state degrees are just as good as Ivy league. The catch is MOST engineers do not have advanced degrees. Instead they have experience. That is much more valuable. The time that an advanced degree becomes important is if you want to be a doc or a college professor.
Lots of graduate schools offer teaching assistanceships that waive tuition and include stipends so you get paid to get your masters or Ph.D.. Both me and my daughter used this to earn our degrees without debt.
Secondly, other than some poor kid being saddled with mountains of debt for usually a useless degree in Feminine Studies or Gender Equality (or a BS or greater liberal arts degree) and coming out of there as a raving liberal or socialist loon (but I repeat myself), what is the value of attending an Institute of Higher Learning today really worth? Especially now when so much information is available online?
I hear some schools are even offering accredited courses online for those interested.
“I see a lot of them “furriners” in my experiences, working for US companies with lists of degrees and certifications a mile long (here on H1B visas). “
There are CERTAIN countries where those degrees and certifications are literally not even worth using as toilet paper; their H1B people (with some exceptions) are basically (barely) warm bodies; I’m sure that you and I would agree to that short list. Most European, and any Eastern European country and China aren’t on that list. I, also, am on “the clean-up crew”, so to speak.
But...some of the best and most creative engineers I’ve worked with were from India, Pakistan (!) and Iraq (pre-war). Two of the best all-around engineers (of anything technical) were from Thailand (!).
Don’t forget, even Iran was a world leader in medicine, Pre-Revolution. After the revolution, they suffered a massive Brain Drain. Post-war Iraq did, also.
I don’t believe that they have Womyn’s Studies in Eastern Europe; if they do, I don’t believe that they require engineers to take those courses.
And those aren’t required of engineers here either...or any one else for that matter
Assuming you speak Mandarin, and you’re familiar with China’s financial and business processes, I imagine you be a great candidate for numerous technologies and industries.
>> some of the best and most creative engineers
Mechanical, electrical, software?
I’ve been saying for several years now, that more and more this will become an alternative.
Not all state colleges and universities fit that category but a to of them do. That is true in Europe as well This is where you what you have taught you children about character and principles comes into play.
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