One reason why there are so few people studying in Germany is that we still have a really big apprenticeship system where in other countries most people go to university for (nurses, preschool teachers, there's even an application developer's apprenticeship).
One reason why Germany can allow itself to have no fees is the language barrier. Sweden offers lots of English master programmes and has introduced fees for non-EU citizens (EU citizens have to be treated the same as own citizens in this regard under EU law ). The Netherlands and Austria already complain about the masses of German students flocking to them. I guess there's some anxiety that there would be a storm of foreign students at British universities if fees were dropped.
> The Netherlands and Austria already complain about the masses of German students flocking to them.
Yeah because our universities either have ridiculous waiting times (six years in waiting for medicine is THE NORM, even with a perfect 1.0 Abitur degree) or kick you out when you fail the same exam three times forever - you cannot continue your study in Germany but have to study abroad.
edit: oh, I forgot to mention the housing situation: most cities with big universities neglected building affordable housing for YEARS and the market for small-ish single occupant apartments is running hot, more than most students without wealthy parents can afford.
> six years in waiting for medicine is THE NORM, even with a perfect 1.0 Abitur degree
That's just not true. A friend of mine recently (2012) started studying Medicine in Germany with a 1.4 Abitur and an excellent Medizinertest result (an aptitude test for prospective medical students) and had the choice of the full range of Universities, including Heidelberg etc, with zero waiting time.
> kick you out when you fail the same exam three times
I never understood how someone can fail the same exam three times and still think that they're studying the right subject. Either you buck up and do it properly the second time, or you very likely have a severe lack of essential foundations.
> the housing situation
Karlsruhe is said to be one of those, yet several student dorms (Wohnheime) have empty rooms. Much of this is hoity-toity kids who don't want to share a bathroom and living room with ten others.
The housing situation is much worse in England, where shitty university accommodation will run you around £100/week (550€/month) even in smaller cities, whereas a Studentenwohnheim in Germany will cost you roughly 200€/month.
It used to be that states would allow one to take their bar exam a maximum of three times. I am not a lawyer, but I remember a fellow in Colorado who sued the state bar association to be allowed a fourth shot.
For those curious: The reason Scottish universities can have that exception is a quirk of EU law: it only prevents inter-country – not intra-country – discrimination for public services.
This is actually a blind spot of the German system. You simply cannot compare the skill set of a college-educated nurse and one that was trained under the apprenticeship system. This means in particular that in Germany you need a doctor to do things that in (say) America a nurse could easily handle on their own.
Used to? It still does. Consider my university, for example. For the academic year 2015/2016 it will charge £13,000/yr. to international students, versus £9,000/yr. to UK students:
The EU has a population of half a billion people, even if UK/EU fees were dropped and all non-EU fees stayed very high, his point still stands, you'd probably see a ton of European students flock to the UK. And seeing as there's nothing you're allowed to do to prevent discrimination between EU members, they just decided for the UK to be more expensive than everyone else. This keeps UK schools relatively british and generates a ton of money on the comparatively fewer foreigners who still decide to make the trip. It also filters out a lot of the 'bottom socioeconomic class', and that lack of social mobility for them will probably create tons of inequality and friction later down the line. Some of the rates at UK schools are absolutely insane for European standards.
One reason why Germany can allow itself to have no fees is the language barrier. Sweden offers lots of English master programmes and has introduced fees for non-EU citizens (EU citizens have to be treated the same as own citizens in this regard under EU law ). The Netherlands and Austria already complain about the masses of German students flocking to them. I guess there's some anxiety that there would be a storm of foreign students at British universities if fees were dropped.