This week students in Italy, England and Ireland are all hitting the streets to protest rises in college tuition costs, which result from the extraordinary government belt-tightening across Europe.
Protest leaders in England say their followers represent an “unprecedented wave of student revolt,” and have broken into the conservative party headquarters to demonstrate their anger. Under the government’s new program, college tuition in Britain will triple next year, to the equivalent of about $15,000. US. Meanwhile, Irish students protest the “spiraling” of school fees from €900 euro in 2008 to €1500 (about $2,000. US) this year. Meanwhile students in Italy are blocking railroad tracks and runways at airports to protest a reorganization of the state’s college education system that isn’t going to cost them anything, but simply force some kind of efficiency onto universities, some of which currently offer more than 14 different degrees in a single subject area.
It all must seem odd to American students, accustomed to looking at tuition bills of $30,000. – $40,000. per year for private schools and $15,000. for public universities. Meanwhile, several magazine articles have urged Americans to take a look at going to school in Europe as a way to save money. If you’re willing to step around the protest barricades, it’s likely that college will cost you far less there than here at home even after the latest round of tuition hikes takes place.