#Is it worth studying German for higher education in Germany given recent events?

41 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

tidal solar
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Hello, I am new here and to German in general so I apologize if I sound clueless, because I really am.

Given the dwindling state of Europe, it feels only natural to start looking elsewhere. Learning German was originally for educational purposes but in light of the war and the whole world being pretty messed up, it seems like Europe seems out of the picture.

I am going to university in the summer of 2024 and was wondering if Germany is still a viable option for higher education. I really would like to hear your opinion on the situation.

Thank you so much.

fathom widget
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The condition of germnay in case of recession and inflation and things like that !! Germnay is way too good than any other country !!

Watch some videos on yt related to it...and you'll know

tidal solar
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So the case of recession and inflation in Germany is…good?

bleak basin
# tidal solar So the case of recession and inflation in Germany is…good?

Well, it is expensive. Probably not as much compared to countries like the US with their overall high tuition fees. And the inflation might make the cost of living even higher. But the level of education you can get should generally not differ much from before the pandemic.

How and why do you think a "dwindling state of Europe" would affect you anyway? Even though Germany is affected by the war in some ways, the war itself is in Ukraine, which is quite a bit of distance away from Germany.

The distance between Kyiv/Kiew and Berlin is ~1200km / ~750miles, and the distance between a western German city like Köln/Cologne and the actual front lines (I took Kupiansk as an example) is more like ~2160km / ~1350 miles, which seems to be about the distance between North Carolina and North Dakota in U.S. terms.

If you go into a bit more detail about your concerns, I can try to provide you with a bit more background.

tidal solar
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Especially with the rise of radical parties

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It is not a stable environment as a vulnerable student

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I hope you understand where my worries come from

bleak basin
# tidal solar Especially with the rise of radical parties

I would like to comment on that in a bit more detail, but I can't since we're not in the sensitive-topics channel. I would say as of now we've seen worse in the last decade, and I wouldn't take it too serious. If you had thoughts of coming to Germany before the war or the pandemic started, in terms of internal security not that much should have changed.

tidal solar
bleak basin
# tidal solar It is not a stable environment as a vulnerable student

I have no idea what you might be referring to with being a "vulnerable student". We don't eat people here. And while there are people here that are generally not welcoming, if you go to a city with a large enough percentage of university students, you should generally be safe to go. If you have a city with a third of the population being students accustomed to international students and multiculturalism, you wouldn't be alone.

There are cities that are more safe in Germany, and cities that are less safe. It's like that everywhere in the world. And while I agree with those in the questions forum that there are European countries safer than Germany, it's generally safe compared to most other countries. And I would say the same about stability. There are a lot of countries more unsafe and more unstable than Germany right now.

tidal solar
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In Germany I mean

bleak basin
tidal solar
bleak basin
# tidal solar My bad for being unclear 😅 I meant that if things change in Germany due to exte...

There are private universities that do take fees. High fees, even. But there is no grounds for generally introducing fees as high as say the U.K. or U.S. here.

  • First, yes, it would be devastating to a lot of students, which is why I think it's unlikely it would happen. There would be massive protests among (not only) students, which the government would want to avoid in case of an already unstable environment. There have been discussions about reintroducing the options for professors to make attendance mandatory again in my state a few years ago, which caused enough backlash for the politicians to back paddle on this a few years later. Students would absolutely not let it slide if the government introduced high fees.
  • Second, there is not that much basis for German universities to do something like that in the first place. Universities in other countries sometimes include massive amenity packages like dorm rooms, huge recreational areas or food, which German universities generally don't. If you want a dorm room, you have to apply for a dorm room and pay for that separately (which comes with a really long waiting list as they are generally cheaper than most alternatives). So universities couldn't charge you on that. Universities in Germany are generally there for you to study there, not live there - at least the public universities I've seen so far.
  • Third, Germany is absolutely dependent on well-educated people for its economy. To introduce high fees would be akin to shooting itself in the foot.
  • Forth, since the Bologna reform in 2001, which introduced the Bachelor/Master system to Germany, you can at any time discontinue your studies and go to another university, which has to accept your classes as long as there is enough overlap. So even if there would be any kind of problem, you could always leave and would not lose too much. That's true for other students as well (see point 3).

Is that sufficient, or do you want more?

tidal solar
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If anyone would like to add something to the thread, they are more than welcome 🙏

bleak basin
bright fox
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Where are you from @tidal solar ? Germany is a safe place. Any talk of major instability or crisis in Western Europe is very overstated, especially by those with some agenda to push .

tidal solar
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Incomparable to anything in Germany, even through a crisis

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But because my parents are worried that things could go downhill in Germany, they’ve been looking for alternatives such as Australlia (which have tuition fees that make your heart skip a beat)

tranquil zodiac
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It’s funny you think Europe is disintegrating. I’m in the US and I think our collapse is way more imminent.

tranquil zodiac
vernal fox
tidal solar
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I’m graduating next year

vernal fox
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you thanweya aama?

tidal solar
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But theoretically yes

vernal fox
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so im guessin you're in a golf arabic country and you're kinda following the egyptian school system

tidal solar
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But everything else you said is right

vernal fox
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verstehe

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you live in saudi?

tidal solar
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I don’t see how it matters though with all due respect

vernal fox
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nah it doesnt matter

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anyways

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goodluck fam