Does everyone get this free education, or just some people? I grew up in Germany, where only a small percentage of students got into Gymnasium (as opposed to more trade-oriented high schools), and only a small percentage of them got into universities. I'm not saying this is necessarily bad, just that it doesn't line up with the idea of a utopian world where everyone gets a free university education.
>Higher education is free...and you get a stipend to pay for food/rent as long as you keep passing courses.
This actually created a huge problem in Berlin when I was living there. Being in the university system was such a good deal that nobody wanted to leave. Students would change majors every few years to avoid graduating for as long as possible, sitting through courses they didn't really care about because it was easier than graduating and working for a living. Classes became terribly over-crowded: when walking around the campus area, you could tell the students apart from people who just happened to be passing through, because the students all carried folding chairs with them because none of the classrooms had enough seats. To compensate, they had to dramatically reduce the quotas for incoming students, so the students who were loitering in the university system were effectively blocking younger students from ever having the opportunity to get a degree.
I don't know if/how they ever fixed this problem, but I'm sure it's very hard to fix short of putting a hard limit (e.g. 4 or 5 years) on receiving the stipend.
> Does everyone get this free education, or just some people?
Yeah, there's room for everyone. Class sizes are limited so acceptance into programs is merit-based (high school grades or a special test), but worst case you just have to settle for a less prestigious school.
There is actually a time limit to the stipend (IIRC 300 weeks of study) to avoid abuse, but it's also dependent on you actually passing courses.
>Higher education is free...and you get a stipend to pay for food/rent as long as you keep passing courses.
This actually created a huge problem in Berlin when I was living there. Being in the university system was such a good deal that nobody wanted to leave. Students would change majors every few years to avoid graduating for as long as possible, sitting through courses they didn't really care about because it was easier than graduating and working for a living. Classes became terribly over-crowded: when walking around the campus area, you could tell the students apart from people who just happened to be passing through, because the students all carried folding chairs with them because none of the classrooms had enough seats. To compensate, they had to dramatically reduce the quotas for incoming students, so the students who were loitering in the university system were effectively blocking younger students from ever having the opportunity to get a degree.
I don't know if/how they ever fixed this problem, but I'm sure it's very hard to fix short of putting a hard limit (e.g. 4 or 5 years) on receiving the stipend.