Most Americans wont argue that the education system is broken. Guaranteed student loans mean bloated tuition costs. Bloated tuition costs mean skyrocketing admin budgets and salaries. The cycle feeds itself. At the same time, why people will spend $150,000.00 on a Liberal Arts degree... I have no idea.
I know people here in the Netherlands that have student debts because they can't afford to pay for university, so some Europeans do have student debt. The same thing also happens in the UK
True, not all countries in Europe follow the "social state" model that pays for college/uni. However, even in some countries that do, students still have the cost of living to contend with...
Here in France the tuition is low, a few hundred €, plus a few additional costs (some teachers want you to buy books, you have to drive to wherever for a special class, somtimes buy theater tickets....) Still, as lemmingoverlord said, some get student loans to afford living without getting a full-time job. And there is also a social help, depending on how much money your parents make, how far away from your hometown you're studying and wether or not you have bros/sis who are also students, you can get a bit of money, going from refund of the tuition to a few hundreds a month. This way everyone has access to education.
The help doesn't apply to private schools though (typically, studying marketing costs an arm and a leg, and you can only get your parent's money and/or a loan).
And if you think that's cool come quick, because lately they've been pondering the idea of upping the costs for foreigner students (there were protests though).
The help doesn't apply to private schools though (typically, studying marketing costs an arm and a leg, and you can only get your parent's money and/or a loan).
And if you think that's cool come quick, because lately they've been pondering the idea of upping the costs for foreigner students (there were protests though).