Posted on 10/08/2014 6:57:16 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
For decades, free high-school education helped strengthen the middle class and generate prosperity. So isn’t it time to extend the same thinking to college?
The idea might seem impractical, since college costs more than high school and higher education isn’t for everybody in the first place. Yet it’s also obvious that a high school education alone isn’t nearly as valuable as it used to be, which is why some researchers and policymakers are now studying ways to make college as accessible as high school for those who want it. College is free in Scandinavian countries and highly subsidized in much of Europe (snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
There school system is based on a totally different then our model. At the age of 11 or 12, you are tracked into a high school based on test scores, highest go to gymnasium which is university track, there are technical schools, than manual labor schools. It is very hard to change after that. That would never fly here.
“...Yet it’s also obvious that a high school education alone isn’t nearly as valuable as it used to be, ...”
And a college education is more valuable than it used to be?
Sorry, but thanks to the gubmit encouraging folks with liberal-level IQs into college to pursue marshmallow degrees in underwater m*sturbation and womyn’s studies, a college degree for most is worth just slightly more than a condom.
I live in Pennsylvania. Penn State tuition is very high, but there are other options. I live in the Philadelphia area. Kids here can commute to Temple, a Penn State satellite, Cabrini, Chestnut Hill, Rosemont, etc. Excellent students can go to Temple for free, and maybe Pitt or West Chester as well.
If you're not a good enough student to bring tuition costs at any of those schools sufficiently low via merit aid and your parents really can't help more than your room and board, then you need to go to Community College for two years. I'd recommend getting some sort of health degree - respiratory therapy, RN, x-ray tech, etc. At that point, most of the hospitals in the area have some sort of partial tuition remission to help turn those associate degrees into bachelors.
It's not easy to get a degree without a lot of debt, but it is still very doable for most people.
Yikes! They're private schools with money that was freely donated to them. Am I on FreeRepublic or the Karl Marx Koffee Klatch?
Unless things have changed drastically since I was there, one thing that bears mentioning is that the German attitude towards higher education is the one we USED to have here - only the very intelligent and talented go on to university.
And that starts early in the German system - they track talented students into the academic schools, and there are parallel apprenticeship and trade school programs for folks who aren't interested in or temperamentally/ intellectually suited for university.
But to do that here, we would have to uproot generations of "you HAVE to go to college" indoctrination, and for sure somebody's FEELINGS would be hurt . . . bah!
Books have actually gotten more reasonable thanks to the internet. Colleges no longer have a monopoly on used book sales. My son was remarking that one of his sons - at Penn State for engineering - is actually paying less for his books each semester than he paid for books at St. Joe’s thirty years ago.
If this is the answer, somebody is asking the wrong question. The question and the challenge should be restoring the value of the high school education rather than expanding higher education to fill in the gaps created when choices were made that removed rigor from the HS curriculum. Add in career-oriented tracking that allow non-academic pursuits to have equal value to the college track. Those headed to technical careers with good skills that meet industry needs while showing the student the value of continued learning will result in jobs that can pay much better than many college graduates get. This is especially true when considering the college debt load.
+1
Perhaps if the university would return to being a place of building and books rather than outdoing each other to become the clubest medest club med ever, it wouldn’t be so expensive.
Good post. And where is the money coming from? Each taxpayer in this country owns a share of our national debt and the massive bowwave of unfunded liabilities. That share currently exceeds $1 million per taxpayer — and is rising rapidly. Clearly the country is already broke.
I would point this out....music, arts, and culture figure into your German high school years. No talents? Forget about getting the route onto college later....it won’t happen. This leads to an odd thing in this modern era...the wiz kids of IT in Germany...aren’t going into German traditional university programs, and they aren’t able to find that many talented IT engineers to quickly fill job situations that demand placement ‘now’.
I would agree...all of this music, arts and culture stuff in Germany means that your German university crowd considers themselves to be intellectual and more talented than the same American crowd.
Note also....you don’t get to be a CEO with most German companies...unless you have the PhD or Doctor status behind your name, and we aren’t talking free gift degrees that most US university programs hand out.
LOL, free tuition? That is supposed to mean anyone can go to college? I see free college as being more Gov’t controlled agenda driven courses. On the bright side, my grand children can go to Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Columbia or Georgetown free. (Like those universities would give into that?) Score 1 for the Dems, the thought of free stuff gets them elected, even if they never succeed in delivering it. What we need is a candidate that promises, no more personal income tax. I see Gov’t controlled Free college education as an extension of free city public schools. More leftist indoctrination made easy.
One huge difference-
Germany requires that students meet minimum academic standards for college. In the US there are ubiquitous colleges that will take any warm body. These are both public and private.
Germany has much lower rate of university attendance than the US.
And I believe the Harvards and the Princetons of the world will stop charging tuition soon - they're losing the upper middle class to the state schools. If you go to the Penn State main campus and look around, there is a lot of upper middle class privilege there. They have parents who are looking at the 28 grand price tag and seeing a bargain.
Germany Tax Rates 2014
Last partial update, September 2014
Taxation of an individual’s income is progressive. In other words, the higher the income, the higher the rate of tax payable.
In 2014 the Germany tax rates for an individual are 14% - 45%.
Singles pay on income above EUR 250,731 (couples, on income above EUR 501,462) income tax of 45% before 5.5% solidarity tax and 8%-9% church tax which are imposed on the income tax.
In addition to regular tax, there is a trade tax that is imposed on business income.
The standard rate of Germany corporate tax in 2013 is 15%. There is a reduced rate for part of a corporation’s income.
An additional tax has been imposed to help the merger of the two Germanys. This is “solidarity tax” which is 5.5% of the normal rate payable. The tax is levied on corporations and individuals, subject to the conditions specified in the law.
In 2014 the effective corporate tax rate, including trade tax and solidarity tax is about 30%-33%.
Germany Income Tax for an Individual
An individual is liable for tax on his income as an employee and on income as a self-employed person. An individual who meets the test of a “permanent resident” of Germany will have the tax calculated on his income in Germany and from overseas.
A foreign resident who is employed in Germany pays tax only on income earned in Germany.
To be considered a German citizen, a test must be met of either a life centered in Germany or a continuous stay of 6 months in Germany.
A partnership is not a separate body for tax purposes. The income from the partnership is divided between the partners who will then each pay their tax as an individual on their share according to their share in the partnership.
An employer is obligated to deduct the tax payable, income tax and social security immediately on a monthly basis from income earned as a wage.
A self-employed person must prepay income tax that will be offset on filing an annual return. The advance payment is determined on the basis of the return made for the previous year. In the event of a new business, the advance will be calculated on the basis of estimates made by the owner of the business. The advance payment is made once every three months.
Certain payments, as specified below, are deducted from taxable income.
Germany individual income tax rates, 2014
Tax % Tax Base (EUR)
0 Up to 8,354
14% 8,355-52,881
42% 52,882-250,730
45% 250,731 and over
Note: The rates are before solidarity tax,all individuals,and business tax-for business income.
Members of the church pay 8%-9% church tax.
Germany Corporate Tax
The basic 2013 corporate federal rate of tax in Germany is 15%.
A “business tax”, 14%-17% in average, payable to the municipality, is added to the tax.
A company that operates in a number of cities pays business tax according to the location of its employees in the various cities.
Taxable income for the purposes of “business tax” may be adjusted for purposes of calculating the basis on which “business tax” is payable.
“Business tax” is an allowable expense for purposes of calculating the income on which corporation tax is payable.
Germany Capital Gains
Capital Gains (Individual)
Profits from the sale of private real estate that has been held for more than 10 years, or from the sale of other assets that have been held for more than 12 months is exempt from tax. For shorter holding periods the general tax rates apply.
Sale of a shares when the percentage of the investment is less than 1% is subject to a flat 25% tax. On the other hand, when the percentage of the holding is in excess of 1%, tax is payable on 60% of the profit at normal rates.
Capital Gains (A Company)
The standard rate of tax for a company is 15%.
95% of a capital gain from the sale of shares in a foreign subsidiary or German company is exempt from tax when received by a company taxable in Germany.
Germany Dates of Reporting and Payment:
The tax year in Germany ends on December 31.
Advance payments for income tax are paid according to the following:
An individual
- An individual whose income is from a salary only does not have to file an annual return. The employer, who deducts tax from the employee, transfers the tax immediately to the tax authorities every month.
- An individual who is self employed is obligated to make 4 quarterly advance payments.
- An individual who is self employed is obligated to file a return by the end of the month of May.
A limited company
- It is compulsory to submit the financial statements by the 31st May following the tax year.
- During the year, the company must make 4 quarterly advance payments on the 10th of the months of March, June, September and December. The balance of the tax payable must be paid within 30 days of receipt of an income tax assessment.
- A fine of 1% per month is payable on arrears in payment of the tax balance.
Germany Deduction of Tax at Source
Taxation of Employees:
The employer is obligated to deduct tax at source from an employee and to make additional contributions to social security.
Social Security:
An employed person - The employer and employee each make an equal payment.
The social insurance covers pensions, unemployment and nursing insurance.
There is an upper limit of the salary on which national insurance is payable.
Income in excess of the limit is exempt from national insurance.
Germany Other deductions:
Deductions must be made from the following payments to nonresidents as follows:
Dividend - 26.375% (including solidarity tax).
Royalties - 15.825% (including solidarity tax).
Interest - 0%/25%.
Comments: Deduction at source for overseas residents is subject to the Double Taxation Prevention Treaty.
Rank Country Spending ($ Bn.)
1 United States United States 600.4
2 China People’s Republic of China 122.2
3 Russia Russia 68.2
4 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 59.6
5 United Kingdom United Kingdom 57.0
6 France France 52.4
7 Japan Japan 51.0
8 Germany Germany 44.2
And I understand the technische Hochschulen can now grant doctorates, so there's no reason even a geek with absolutely no interest in culture of any kind can't snag a doctorate if he's (almost always a he) talented enough.
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