[jiofih]

You can’t compare Canada to most of Europe. Cars are ridiculously cheap in the US and CA, but a luxury in EU capitals. Parking alone would cost hundreds/month, and expecting that mythical student’s apartment to have a garage is a funny joke!

For someone earning half a million, 2k may not seem much, but there goes your reality check. See the other response to your comment - living on €600/month is the more common student experience, maybe even above median.

Average income in the EU is somewhere around 30-40k/year, most parents will never ever have close to 2k/month per child. Even in expensive cities, most will live in shared student accommodation which is cheaper (200-300). This is what allows almost anyone to enjoy the cheap higher education, if it required even 1k spare income you would exclude the majority of the population.

[parasubvert]

I had mentioned that a car is needed in some cases, but not all. If I have small kids as a student I’m probably going to need a car in Canada, US, or some EU countries (not all).

Overall I’m also going by what many EU schools say are average expected living expenses for an international student. Invariably it’s a lot more than €600 a month.

I’m not denying folks can go to school on the cheap, I’m just saying that if you think €1-2k a month is ridiculous jet setting luxury, you’re wrong.