Originally Posted by
bafanguy
Yes, there is a "direct" cost: taxes.
"Free education" isn't free. In places where this phenomenon is alleged to exist...it doesn't. Someone paid because colleges are not charities.
Perhaps you spread the cost over an entire society where everyone pays for someone else's "free" education even if they have no kids getting the "free" college education.
You're OK with that ? You got scammed. Hilarious.
Actually I didn’t get scammed. I live in one of the more modern European countries where I actually have an average tax of less than 10%, 0% as long as I don’t have kids, and I still get to send my future kids to free higher education. Think of Monaco but with a more normal lifestyle and much lower cost of living. Suck on that one!
Of course I know that the school system in Europe is funded by taxes. I watched my parents pay a ridiculous amount in taxes over their careers for things such as public schools/universities. My point was, in the US, you as a parent need to have the discipline/means to early on start saving if you want to send your kids for higher education. In Europe you don’t have to worry about whether or not you will be able to afford to send your kids to university.