| #ffffff;" /> | | | | undergraduate or advanced post-graduate degree. |
| More and more college-bound students from the U.S. | | | | Learning the language |
| and around the world are traveling to Germany to | | | | While some courses at German universities are taught |
| study, some for a semester or a year, but others to | | | | in English, the vast majority of instruction takes place in |
| pursue a two- or four-year degree at one of the | | | | German, and the federal government requires foreign |
| country’s many prestigious universities. | | | | students to pass a DSH exam to prove their |
| The reason? Part of it is pure quality – the | | | | proficiency in the German language before being |
| university system created in Germany after World | | | | accepted for university study. The government |
| War II has a well-earned reputation for excellence | | | | licenses a number of private German language |
| – but another, more pragmatic reason is cost. | | | | schools to provide intensive instruction in German; |
| Students who in the United States would be facing | | | | students live in German towns, sometimes with |
| over $50,000 in student loans after four years of | | | | German families, and shop, travel, and attend movies, |
| college can attend a public German university for an | | | | concerts and restaurants in a total immersion |
| average of $700 a semester, plus between $50 and | | | | experience that serves to develop remarkable skill in |
| $150 in registration fees. Tuition itself in the public | | | | speaking and reading the language in an amazingly |
| universities is free; the $700 covers the cost of | | | | short period of time. Scholarships are also available |
| arranged lodging and other official expenses. Even | | | | from the German federal government for these |
| adding food, transportation, and other daily costs to | | | | courses. |
| that, the German university is an incredible bargain. And | | | | Beyond Cost Savings and Course Work – the |
| to sweeten the offer, the German government offers | | | | Ultimate Value of German University Study |
| scholarships to help defray the costs of fees, lodging, | | | | The current climate of commercial and political |
| and any number of other daily expenses associated | | | | globalization offers an advantage to students with |
| with study in Germany. | | | | fluency in a second language, and particularly to those |
| Engineering students in particular are making a beeline | | | | who have a deep familiarity with another culture; |
| for Germany, choosing to pursue a degree at one of | | | | graduates who boast a degree or even a semester |
| Germany’s excellent technical universities, while | | | | at a foreign university will probably be looked upon with |
| other students decide to experience the | | | | high interest by recruiters for large corporations. But |
| country’s rich cultural history while earning a | | | | beyond that kind of pragmatism, living in a foreign |
| degree in humanities at one of the centuries’ | | | | country and studying elbow-to-elbow with students |
| old traditional establishments. Many courses of study | | | | from Europe, the U.S., Japan, China, the Indian |
| leading to a wide range of career paths are available | | | | subcontinent, the Middle East, and other geographically |
| to foreign students at more than 300 colleges and | | | | and culturally diverse corners of the world offers |
| trade schools. Some students limit themselves to a | | | | students a unique opportunity to develop diverse |
| single semester or a year in Germany, largely for the | | | | friendships and an understanding of other cultures and |
| experience of living abroad, but more and more | | | | world views. |
| students are deciding to stay and earn an | | | | |