Remember the day

Already two years ago...

Tuition fees

When Nadja won the first Paper Boat Challenge (mooonths ago), one of the topics she proposed was tuition fees, and I decided to write about it.

From my stays abroad and friends around the world I have at least an idea of different concepts. I wanted to be more precise, however, and tried to collect descriptions and opinions from different people. The feedback was – let’s say – very little.

Therefore I decided for a different concept: a newspaper comment style which – hopefully – provokes some reactions...

The idea that education should be free and equally accessible to everybody is a really socialist one. Maybe it’s the only true socialist one left in our society. So what surprised me wasn’t the introduction of tuition fees in Germany. I was more surprised that so many were surprised about the “new” policy.

Already before the “change” equal access to education did not exist. Who can go to university? Those who passed their Abitur (comparable to A-levels in the UK). What do you have to do to pass? Go to school for at least 13 years. Who can afford leaving school at the age of 19 instead of 15? Those who come from a well-situated background, right? You see, equal chances don’t even exist in Germany. I won’t start talking about other countries…

Of course you could say: “The whole system is wrong.” However, I’m not only an idealistic but also a pragmatic person. Therefore I see that it would be nice to have free education for everyone and at the same time that there is not enough money to pay it.

I don’t like the idea of elite university as they exist in the USA and as they are intended to form in Germany. There is a lack of highly qualified workers anyway and a lower percentage of university students than in other countries. Because of this, new forms of financing “mass education” have to be found. At Mumbai University (Bombay) they think about entering the stock exchange. By the way, they wouldn’t be the first university to do this step. But do you want to have universities that depend on their shareholders?

The problem is that studying is an investment in your future: You have to “pay” now and the benefits lie in the future. So my proposal is a system where you pay fees after leaving university. A certain percentage of your salary maybe even during your complete working life.


For those who don’t know the background: During the last 2 years many German states introduced tuition fees. Before education was free except for those who studied extremely long or went to a private university. (In Germany state universities are considered very good so there is no real difference in educational quality between those and private universities like in other countries.)

1 day after = 4 1/2 years after

From the previous post you know that yesterday was THE day. I had to defend my thesis. It started at 4pm and at 4:30 I had to leave the room for a few minutes (During the discussion of the professors). Probably you want to know how it was. Well, it could have been worse. Although I have to say my two professors managed to make me sweat;-) Afterwards they explained to me that their questions were meant to find out my limits because they hadn't found anything big to complain about in my thesis.


Now I can call myself "industrial engineer" and I'm not a student any more. My sister asked me how it feels and I had to say the only difference is that today I'm relieved while yesterday I was a bit nervous. The truth is that I don't feel different. Receiving my title yesterday wasn't really a surprise, was it? I worked for it 4 1/2 years (almost exactly 4 1/2 years ago I started my first internship which I needed to start my studies). So it just was the "last step".

But of course things will change. I hope I will have a job soon (you can ask me on Monday again) and I guess that will bring some changes anyway. I wonder if it means being free or the opposite. My friends who already finished their studies have their own philosophies...

Thanks to everybody who supported me during my studies (some may not even know they did). Thanks to all of you who thought of me yesterday, crossed their fingers and pressed their thumps...

Note to myself

Defence of my thesis: 6th December, 4pm

Don't forget!!!

Rien ne va plus

Finally! I handed in my thesis today. Now I can't do anything but wait for the result. The mean thing is that I won't get to know the result before the defence. After reading my thesis in detail the two professors will "invite" me to have the defence of it. There I'll have to present in brief the results and afterwards they will ask me questions. Usually that lasts between 30 and 45 minuts. I don't know yet when that will be because professors are soooo busy;-)


For those who are interested in details: My thesis is a feasibility study for an extension to the existing water treatment system at Volkswagen de México. Really interesting... :-)