Bettina Juszak

Staff Writer

…or how an education system seems to be more trouble than it’s worth.

A series of musings on American culture by a German exchange student.

I know I already talked a bit about this topic, but now that college admissions are in full swing, I feel that there is a lot more to say.

After the initial craziness of the process of applying in summer and fall, which is far more extensive than any application in Germany, and as far as I know the whole of Europe, now, in March, all the regular action rejections or acceptances are rolling in. A time of extreme stress for some, who don’t know where they are going yet and have to wait with a baited breath, and a completely unimportant one for others, who already know where they are going to go to college.

Nothing, however, changes the fact that lives rest on those decisions, as here in the US going to a good college or one that suits you is infinitely of more value than in Europe. As far as I can judge this phenomenon hangs on several reasons. One, companies place a lot more stock in where you went to college (for example, if you went to Harvard everyone will assume you are smart), and two, more people actually go to college in the US. In Europe, going to universities is still somewhat of a privilege (which is part of the reason why countries can keep tuition prices so low), though that has been changing lately – and bringing price changes with it. Still, the difference between paying for college here and in Europe is humongous. If a family doesn’t save up for college, attending without tons of debt is near impossible. After all, who can afford fifty thousand dollars per year? We already have had student riots in Europe because prices get raised for a few hundred euros…

Money brings me to the next major part of the whole college process: scholarships.

In Europe, they are scarce. There are some governmental ones, and some from other organizations promoting education, but that’s about it. No one can count on actually getting a scholarship; however, as the cost of tuition is so much less high, most people  do not actually need it, either.

Here in the US, it seems that every single company offers scholarships, the army has them, the schools have them, the colleges have them, and so on. And many a student’s decision hangs on if he gets enough money from scholarships to actually go to the school he wants to go to. Isn’t there something wrong about good education only being available to those with lots of money? Education is supposed to be something which anybody interested can get, to the extent he needs – which is not necessarily possible in the States.

The only upside to high tuition is the fact that the schools have more money for equipment and buildings – and that some of the best universities in the world are created by it. That, however, still doesn’t help those who can’t afford or don’t have the grades to profit from those top schools.

Now that the final college decisions are due soon, the question of money, where to go, and what to do with one’s life become more prominent than ever for the current Seniors.