5 people from around the world share what it's like to get free college education

Things are hardly this dire in certain other countries, where everything from preschool to university is paid for — at least in part — by the government.

Some governments even cover the entire cost of a college education, leaving graduates with zero debt and a clean slate to start their new careers.

Business Insider spoke with four people from different European countries to find out what it's really like to get a free education.

France

What do you pay for university?

What's it like to pay so little?

Are there any drawbacks?

Marie-Catherine Beuth, Managing Editor, Business Insider France

Germany

What do you pay for university?

I was enrolled from 2009-2015.

What's it like to pay so little?

Are there any drawbacks?

The professor/student ratio was generally much higher at my university.

— Andrej Guminski, Research Associate at Research Association for Energy Economics

Denmark

What do you pay for university?

What's it like to pay so little?

Are there any drawbacks?

With education being free, the Danish word "evighedsstuderende" has risen. The direct translation would be 'eternity student' and it refers to a person who never finishes his studies but continuously keeps changing study program year after year.

Daniel Borup Jakobsen, VP Marketing, Plecto

Sweden

What do you pay for university?

What you cover is expenses for books (course specific literature) but then again things like JSTOR are usually accessed through university and hence already paid for.

Also, you get about $200/month from the State if you study full-time to cover those costs.

What's it like to pay so little?

Having access to free education means you don't need to rush into a BA program, graduate and start working to pay debts off. Instead, if you get a job on the side, you can actually study a bunch of courses for a couple of years to figure out what it is that you really want to do.

Are there any drawbacks?

Swedes graduate later than, for example, Americans. Which then results in us getting our first job/apartment/car and so on later, leading in some sense to us (higher-educated Swedes) also getting kids later in life.

But overall I think it is great, which probably is why Sweden is one of the highest-ranking countries when it comes to overall quality of life and happiness.

Samuel Skwarski, PR/Creative, Volontaire

Finland

What do you pay for university?

No tuition fees at all in Finland.

What's it like to pay so little?

Of course this takes a huge burden away from young people's minds when they don't need to wonder whether they can afford to pay for their studies. We believe that this indicates that education (including higher education) is a human right and also a great equalizer in our society.

For parents this is also an important think because they don't need to save money for their children's education. I guess many believe that free higher education a true sign of freedom in society.

Are there any drawbacks?

One drawback naturally is that when education budgets get tighter and higher education is a significant part of that, it makes funding pre-university education more difficult.

Debates whether higher education should be moderately fee-based in Finland is often motivated by the notion of shifting spending from higher education (that typically is more for midlle class or affluent part of people) to pre-primary, primary, and secondary education to secure equity and inclusion.