Based on student reviews, The Campus Advisor has named Germany as the second-best European country for higher education, coming in second only to the UK.
The Campus Advisor, a platform which allows students to rate and review their university or college, course, campus facilities and academic staff, and produces reports based on these reviews, has ranked Germany as the second-best European country for higher education.
The survey considered students’ views on the quality of education, cost of living as a student, prospects for careers, student diversity, social life, and art and culture to rank what it determined to be the 15 Best Countries in Europe for Higher Education in 2024.
Coming in first place was the United Kingdom, which the platform awarded 4,79 points out of 5 for quality of education based on student reviews. The country received somewhere between 4,53 and 4,80 points for all other categories apart from “cost of living as a student” where it earned just 3,54.
One factor that the survey failed to highlight, and one that makes a considerable dent in the “cost of living as a student”, was university fees. In England and Wales, UK home students pay 9.000 pounds per year at undergraduate level and for international students at UK universities, which make up 24 percent of the student population, these fees increase to between 11.400 and 38.000 pounds per year.
In contrast, Germany’s tuition fee system is one of the first things that student respondents praised. “One of the most appealing things about Germany is the low tuition fees, especially when compared to other study destinations,” one reviewer wrote.
The country received an overall score of 4,41 out of 5 points, ranking particularly well when it came to students’ career prospects and social lives. “Studying in Germany, especially in Berlin, has been an incredible experience, largely thanks to the city's vibrant nightlife,” one respondent wrote. As recently as November 2023, The Campus Advisor also named Berlin as the second-best city in the world for students.
While students in Germany benefit from affordable public transport, cafeterias and sports facilities, affordable student housing in Germany is becoming a thing of the past - something the The Campus Advisor ranking didn’t touch on. With Germany facing the worst housing shortage in 20 years, students are being hit the hardest, especially those in large cities. In recent years, many have been forced to begin the academic year before they can find somewhere to rent.
For more information about the study, check out The Campus Advisor website.
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