World-class Education That Costs You Nothing Established in Germany

If you want a world-class education without the hefty price tag it usually carries, it's time you pack your bags and head to Germany.

The country's federal state of Lower Saxony became the last region to scrap tuition fees in mid-October, which means that studying in Germany is now completely free even for international students.

So wherever you come from, doors of elite institutions like the University of Heidelberg and Technical University of Munich, both among the world's top 100 universities, are flung wide open if you're a gifted student.

"We don't want higher education which depends on the wealth of the parents," Gabriele Heinen-Kljajic, minister for science and culture of Lower Saxony told German Pulse.

Her Hamburg counterpart Dorothee Stapelfeldt, whose region abolished fees in 2012, called tuition fees socially unjust: "They particularly discourage young people who do not have a traditional academic family background from taking up studies. It is a core task of politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high quality standard free of charge in Germany," she told Britain's The Times newspaper.

Low cost/high rank

Germany has had a long tradition of free education, introducing fees only in 2006 when the constitutional court ruled that moderate tuition fees were not at odds with the country's pledge for education for all. However, even at around $1,300 per year, significantly lower than $14,500 and $30,000 paid by UK and U.S. students respectively, the fees caused widespread backlash, with federal states dropping them one by one.

The funding gap was mainly bridged by the government, with the average worker in Germany facing a tax burden on labor income of 49.3% in 2013, the second highest rate out of 34 OECD member countries.

The country is already a major destination for international students, ranking third in the world after the U.S. and Great Britain, according to data from the OECD. Overseas students flock to the Germany's illustrious universities, attracted by the relatively low cost of living and a vibrant cultural scene and nightlife.