[arendtio]

This.

I wonder why the US doesn't seem to have such a system. The process is quite easy: The company pays the tuition fees and selects a person that satisfies their requirements (not necessarily good grades). The person works for the company and studies while being paid consistently a low but fair salary. About three years later the company can decide if they want to keep the employee who just earned a bachelors degree.

There a few down-sides (studying is harder and it is not available for all study paths), but in general there are many up-sides:

- no debt

- selection based on more than grades

- nobody cares how much you parents can pay

- deeper experience than internships

- combination of practical experience and academic degree

To add some anecdotal evidence: AFAIK, the current CEO of SAP started his career with a similar program.