Data calculated by Learnbonds.com shows that the United Kingdom has the highest tuition fees among the top ten world’s most influential countries at $13,900 per year.
Tuition fees compared
Among the top countries, Japan ranks second with an average of $12,400 to represent a percentage difference of 10.7% with the UK.
According to the data:
“The United States ranks third with average public college tuition of $10,000 representing a percentage difference of 28% when compared to the UK.”
Israel ranks fourth with $9,200 followed by Canada at $4,700. In the sixth position, is Italy with average tuition fees of $3,800. China and Russia are among countries that rank lower in average tuition at $3,650 and $3,500 respectively.
Among the top ten most influential countries, Germany and France are the only nations with average tuition below the $1000 mark. In Germany, the public college tuition fee is at least $900 while France is $620.
Germany’s cheap tuition fees can be attributed to the free tuition policy. In France, the fees are affordable for students with the EU/EEA and Switzerland.
In most countries, the cost of education is higher when you factor in the cost of living. Students have to incur extra costs in food and housing.
Top 10 Countries by International InfluenceDetails: according to 2019 dataData: US News
#
Country
GDP
Population
GDP per Capita
1.
United States
$20.5 trillion
327.2 million
$62,869
2.
China
$13.6 trillion
1.4 billion
$18,116
3.
United Kingdom
$2.8 trillion
66.5 million
$45,741
4.
Russia
$1.7 trillion
144.5 million
$28,797
5.
Germany
$4.0 trillion
82.9 million
$52,386
6.
France
$2.8 trillion
67.0 million
$45,893
7.
Japan
$5.0 trillion
126.5 million
$44,246
8.
Italy
$2.1 trillion
60.4 million
$39,676
9.
Israel
$369.7 billion
8.9 million
$37,994
10.
Canada
$1.7 trillion
37.1 million
$49,690
Apart from tuition fees, students also have to pay for other expenses, such as housing, food, and books, which can run into thousands of dollars a year. However, in the United States, the cost of education depends on the choice of institution. The student loan burden is at crisis levels in the US, say many observers.
Israel comes fourth with an average fee of $9,200 while Canada occupies the fifth position. Between 2019-2020, the average college fees in the North American country were $4,700 representing a figure almost three times less than the UK.
In the sixth position, is Italy with average college fees of $3,800. During the period under review, compared to the UK, a percentage difference of 72.6%.
China and Russia also rank among countries with low tuition fees at $3,650 and $3,500 respectively.
China has invested heavily for years in its education system to make it affordable for citizens and foreigners. Chinese universities have a reputation for offering quality education with high-standard facilities.
France, Germany among countries with the cheapest college fees
Among the top ten most influential countries, Germany is among countries with average public college tuition below $1000. During the period under review, the average cost was $900. Compared to the UK, this is a percentage difference of 93.5%.
In Germany, the low cost of education can be attributed to factors such as the existing free tuition system. However, students can incur extra costs in student union and semester fees. Despite the extra charges, compared to other countries, the fee is still affordable.
However, France has the most affordable college education among the rated countries. The average public college is $620 to represent a percentage difference of over 95% compared to the UK. Generally, in France, tuition fees are lower for students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland. Students outside this region pay more.
Although most students can afford tuition fees in most countries, extra charges such as housing and food make college education more expensive. The situation is worsened especially in regions with a high cost of living. Globally, private tuition fees are usually higher compared to public institutions, ranging between $15,000 – $40,000.
As more students are heading towards graduation each year, the struggle to get a graduate job is becoming more difficult, and students have to ensure strong CVs in order to stand out from the crowd. The Covid pandemic has put a halt to students having options in countries other than their own. However, with a bit of luck, the pandemic will continue to end and travel restrictions will be eased. When that happens, international students will finally be allowed to return to studying abroad, learning new skills and experiencing new cultures.
Although this may be seen as one long holiday to those not in the know, those that study abroad will, in fact, have a higher starting salary, earning an extra 5% more than those who don’t. On average, this could amount to an extra £75,000 ($126,709 CDN at time of this article) over a career.
Not only will they earn more, they are also almost ¼ less likely to be unemployed after graduation. So although all study abroad programs come with a cost, with readily available bursaries, this opportunity is accessible to any student who is hoping to boost their employ-ability and is an opportunity that should be taken.
• Business and Finance Students – China: As the second largest economy in the world, China offers endless business opportunities, whilst encouraging students to learn the most widely spoken language in the world, Mandarin.
• Medical Students – South Africa: Of the 234 million surgical procedures made every year, just 4% of these happen in the poorest third of the global population. When medical students choose to volunteer in South Africa, they will gain experience in a different medical setting, and all whilst giving back.
• Education Students – Australia: As an English-speaking country, Australia is the perfect study abroad opportunity for future teachers. With the average UK class size standing at 30 pupils, the Australian’s average size of 16 will be a lot easier to manage. Plus for those who decide to stay in Australia long-term, new teachers can expect to earn £40,000+ ($67,572 CDN) compared to the £22,000 ($37,164 CDN) starting salary in the UK.
• Conservation – Madagascar: Conservation is a growing industry as concern grows for animals and the environment. As the fourth largest island in the world, and as home to species not found anywhere else, Madagascar is the perfect opportunity for a once in a lifetime opportunity for conservation enthusiasts.
• Art & Design Students – Italy: From ancient and classic sculpture to modern day art, Italy is the perfect place to learn and gain an even greater passion for art history.
• Humanities Students – USA: With three of the top five humanities universities based in the USA, America offers a vast array of historical and literary studying options. This time abroad will open up options for students who are wanting to work in academia, journalism or teaching.
“Pay attention students, write this down for memorization.” The Trivium and Quadrivium, medieval revival of classical Greek education theories, defined the seven liberal arts necessary as preparation for entering higher education: grammar, logic, rhetoric, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, and music. Even today, the education disciplines identified since Greek times are still reflected in many education systems. Numerous disciplines and branches have since emerged, ranging from history to computer science…
Now comes the Information Age, bringing with it Big Data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence as well as visualization techniques that facilitate the learning of knowledge.
All this technology dramatically increased the amount of knowledge we could access and the speed at which we could generate answers to our questions.
“New and more innovative knowledge maps are now needed to help us navigate the complexities of our expanding landscape of knowledge,” says Charles Fadel. Fadel is the founder of the Center for Curriculum Redesign, which has been producing new knowledge maps that redesign knowledge standards from the ground up. “Understanding the interrelatedness of knowledge areas will help to uncover a logical and effective progression for learning that achieves deep understanding.”
Joining us inThe Global Search for Educationto talk about what students should learn in the age of AI is Charles Fadel, author ofFour-Dimensional Education: The Competencies Learners Need to Succeed.
“We need to identify the Essential Content and Core Concepts for each discipline – that’s what the curation effort must achieve so as to leave time and space for deepening the disciplines’ understanding and developing competencies.” — Charles Fadel
Charles, today students have the ability to look up anything. Technology that enables them to do this is also improving all the time. If I want to solve a math problem, I use my calculator, and if I want to write a report on the global effects of climate change, I pull out my mobile. How much of the data kids are being forced to memorize in school is now a waste of time?
The Greeks bemoaned the invention of the alphabet because people did not have to memorize the Iliad anymore. Anthropologists tell us that memorization is far more trained in populations that are illiterate or do not have access to books. So needing to memorize even less in an age of Search is a natural evolution.
However, there are also valid reasons for why somecarefully curatedcontent will always be necessary. Firstly, Automaticity. It would be implausible for anyone to constantly look up words or simple multiplications – it just takes too long and breaks the thought process, very inefficiently. Secondly, Learning Progressions. A number of disciplines need a gradual progression towards expertise, and again, one cannot constantly look things up, this would be completely unworkable. Finally, Competencies (Skills, Character, Meta-Learning). Those cannot be developed in thin air as they need a base of (modernized, curated) knowledge to leverage.
Sometimes people will say “Google knows everything” and it is striking, but the reality is that for now, Googlestoreseverything. Of course, with AI, what is emerging now is the ability toanalyzea large number of specific problems and make predictions, so eventually, Google and similar companies will know a lot more than humans can about themselves!
Closeup of mobile phone with language learning application in jeans pocket. focus on screen
“What we need to test for is Transfer – the ability to use something we have learned in a completely different context. This has always been the goal of an Education, but now algorithms will allow us to focus on that goal even more, by ‘flipping the curriculum’.” — Charles Fadel
If Child A has memorized the data in her head while Child B has to look up the answers, some might argue that Child A is smarter than Child B. I would argue that AI has leveled the playing field for Child A and Child B, particularly if Child B is digitally literate, creative and passionate about learning. What are your thoughts?
First, let’s not conflate memory with intelligence, which games like Jeopardy implicitly do. The fact that Child A memorized data does not mean they are “smarter” than Child B, even though memory implies a modicum of intelligence. Second, even Child B will need some level of content knowledge to be creative, etc. Again, this is not developed in thin air, per the conversation above.
So it is a false dichotomy to talk about KnowledgeorCompetencies (Skills/Character/Meta-learning), it has to be Knowledge (modernized, curated) and Competencies. We’d want children to both Know and Do, with creativity and curiosity.
Lastly, we need to identify the Essential Content and Core Concepts for each discipline – that’s what the curation effort must achieve so as to leave time and space for deepening the disciplines’ understandinganddeveloping competencies.
Given the impact of AI today and the advancements we expect by this time next year, when should school districts introduce open laptop examinations to allow students equal access to information and place emphasis on their thinkingskills?
The question has more to do with Search algorithms than with AI, but regardless, real-life is open-book, and so should exams be alike. And yes, this will force students to actually understand their materials, provided the tests do more than multiple-choice trivialities, which by the way we find even at college levels for the sake of ease of grading.
What we need to test for is Transfer – the ability to use something we have learned in a completely different context. This has always been the goal of an Education, but now algorithms (search, AI) will allow us to focus on that goal even more, by “flipping the curriculum”.
Today, if a learner wants to do a deep dive into any specific subject, AI search allows her to do this outside of classroom time. What do you say to a history teacher who argues there’s no need to revise subject content in his classroom?
For all disciplines, not just History, we must strike the careful balance between “just-in-time, in context” vs “just-in-case”. Context matters to anchor the learning: in other words, real-world projects give immediaterelevancefor the learning, which helps it to be absorbed. And yet projects can also be time-inefficient, so a healthy balance of didactic methods like lectures are still necessary.McKinseyhas recently shown that today that ratio is about 25% projects, which should grow a bit more over time as education systems embed them better, with better teacher training.
Second, it should be perfectly fine for any student to do deep dives as they see fit, but again in balance: there are other competencies needed to becoming a more complete individual, and if one is ahead of the curve in a specific topic, it is of course very tempting to follow one’s passion. And at the same time, it is important to make sure that other competencies get developed too. So, balance and a discriminating mind matter.
Employers consider ethics, leadership, resilience, curiosity,mindfulness and courage as being of “very high” importance to preparing students for the workplace. How does your curriculum satisfy employers’ demands today and in the years ahead?
These Character qualities are essential foremployersand life needs alike, and they have converged away from the false dichotomy of “employability or psycho-social needs.” A modern curriculum ensures that these qualities are developeddeliberately, systematically, comprehensively, and demonstrably. This is achieved by matrixing them with the Knowledge dimension, meaning teaching Resilience via Mathematics, Mindfulness via History, etc. Employers have a mixed view and success as to how to assess these qualities, so it is a bit unfair that they would demand specificity they do not have. And it is also unfitting of school systems to lose relevance.
people, education, technology and exam concept – close up of students with smartphones taking picture of books page and making cheat sheet in school library
“Educators have been tone-deaf to the needs of employers and society to educate broad and deep individuals, not merely ones that may go to college. The anchoring of this problem comes from university entrance requirements.” — Charles Fadel
There is a significant gap between employers’ view of the preparation levels of students and the views of students and educators. The problem likely exists partly because of incorrect assumptions on both sides, but there are also valid deficiencies. What specific inadequacies are behind this gap? What system or process can be devised to resolve this issue?
On one side, employers are expecting too much and shirking their responsibility to bring up the level of their employees, expecting them to graduate 100% “ready to work” and having to spend nothing more than job-specific training at best. On the other side, educators have been tone-deaf to the needs of employers and society to educate broad and deep individuals, not merely ones that may go to college.
The anchoring of this problem comes from university entrance requirements (in the US, AP classes, etc.) and their associated assessments (SAT/ACT scores). They have for decades back-biased what is taught in schools, in a very self-serving manner – narrowly as a test of whether a student will succeed at university. It is time to deconstruct the requirements to broaden/deepen them to serve multiple stakeholders. For the Silo, C.M. Rubin.
Join me and globally renowned thought leaders including Sir Michael Barber (UK), Dr. Michael Block (U.S.), Dr. Leon Botstein (U.S.), Professor Clay Christensen (U.S.), Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (U.S.), Dr. MadhavChavan (India), Charles Fadel (U.S.), Professor Michael Fullan (Canada), Professor Howard Gardner (U.S.), Professor Andy Hargreaves (U.S.), Professor Yvonne Hellman (The Netherlands), Professor Kristin Helstad (Norway), Jean Hendrickson (U.S.), Professor Rose Hipkins (New Zealand), Professor Cornelia Hoogland (Canada), Honourable Jeff Johnson (Canada), Mme. Chantal Kaufmann (Belgium), Dr. EijaKauppinen (Finland), State Secretary TapioKosunen (Finland), Professor Dominique Lafontaine (Belgium), Professor Hugh Lauder (UK), Lord Ken Macdonald (UK), Professor Geoff Masters (Australia), Professor Barry McGaw (Australia), Shiv Nadar (India), Professor R. Natarajan (India), Dr. Pak Tee Ng (Singapore), Dr. Denise Pope (US), Sridhar Rajagopalan (India), Dr. Diane Ravitch (U.S.), Richard Wilson Riley (U.S.), Sir Ken Robinson (UK), Professor Pasi Sahlberg (Finland), Professor Manabu Sato (Japan), Andreas Schleicher (PISA, OECD), Dr. Anthony Seldon (UK), Dr. David Shaffer (U.S.), Dr. Kirsten Sivesind (Norway), Chancellor Stephen Spahn (U.S.), Yves Theze (LyceeFrancais U.S.), Professor Charles Ungerleider (Canada), Professor Tony Wagner (U.S.), Sir David Watson (UK), Professor Dylan Wiliam (UK), Dr. Mark Wormald (UK), Professor Theo Wubbels (The Netherlands), Professor Michael Young (UK), and Professor Minxuan Zhang (China) as they explore the big picture education questions that all nations face today.
C. M. Rubin is the author of two widely read online series for which she received a 2011 Upton Sinclair award, “The Global Search for Education” and “How Will We Read?” She is also the author of three bestselling books, includingThe Real Alice in Wonderland, is the publisher ofCMRubinWorldand is a Disruptor Foundation Fellow.
