Free College Hack - Italian or Hungarian Ancestry

[sarahmac]

It's not exactly "free"; it gets paid from somewhere.

Education that is free at the point of consumption is part of the soft diplomacy strategy of a lot of European countries. The government covers the cost in Germany, for example, not only for EU citizens but also non-EU, as part of goodwill creation toward the country.

It is one of the reasons they don't care if international students stay after graduating to work (and thus pay taxes). That isn't the point -- the point is cultural diffusion beyond Germany's borders. From the BMBF's perspective, it is a good thing when people move back to their own country but maintain and create network links with German firms. It is why a lot of the English language programs are in things like business, management, comp sci, AI, especially at the masters level. And why many programs also require you to reach at least A2 in German even if the degree is taught in English.

The thinking behind it is that it costs less than other forms of "international marketing" the country could be doing, especially given the soft diplomacy style of the US (typically cultural - every kid knows Mickey Mouse) isn't realistic in the German context. Of course, it only works because most HE institutes in Europe, and especially in Germany, are public not private. So the government can be a little strategic.

Other EU countries have taken a similar approach. So is it free? No, in the end the government is paying for it with tax money. But it's currently seen as a good ROI compared to other ways countries could be marketing themselves. When it ceases to have a good ROI, I think they'll be pretty quick to stop it (this already started in part in some countries, with changes in recent years limiting to EU citizens only).