[mschuster91]

The problem is that, trades aside, higher education is a must for earning money that one can actually live on.

The US needs public funding for universities. It's not impossible - Germany's universities are all free of charge, most even for foreigners.

[rayiner]

The U.S. spends basically the same amount of public money on universities as Germany: https://data.oecd.org/eduresource/public-spending-on-educati.... 0.91% of GDP versus 1.0% of GDP. That works out to about $550 per man, woman, and child in the U.S. versus $450 in Germany.

[pbhjpbhj]

How's the spread of spending per student for that money in each country I wonder (across subjects and colleges).

[toasterlovin]

Attending a state university as a resident is actually well within reach for almost everyone. And people who can’t afford it usually qualify for financial aid and grants. The problem is that too many people overspend on higher education. And most people are only able to do this with access to humungous student loans.

[linuxftw]

Right, the problem is higher education is required. Reform secondary education so higher education is not required, and only fund public institutions that give people additional skills to help 'live on.' As long as public money is subsidizing 4 years of 'drama camp' or whatever it those kids do, we should be investing in people that want to do actual work for a living.

[Mirioron]

Free of charge universities usually means stricter limits on access. Only some subset of people will essentially have the opportunity to attend.

[paul_f]

Even with free tuition, you still have to pay for living expenses, which are often much higher than tuition at an in-state school.

[rayiner]

Yes, and this is why Sweden has about the same median student debt as the US ($25,000).

[anoxor]

A whole lot of bootcamp coders making a few hundred thousand may disagree with that or people who started profitable businesses without degrees.