I think the article is very quick to dismiss the difference in number of graduates between Germany and the UK (27 vs 48%, was it?). Why do half of young Brits get a University degree, while only a quarter of young Germans do? One part of the answer is of course the German school system, which only permits students who attended a &quot;Gymnasium&quot; (grammar school) to attend university, but that applies to roughly half of all students [1]. Since schools are tiered by academic ability, it would be safe to assume that those wishing to pursue higher education would attend a Gymnasium, so we&#x27;re nearly back to square one.<p>Statistics [1] also show that in Germany 43% started a university education, but only 28% completed one. Meanwhile, UK universities boast with their high retention rates, which might raise the question of how they achieve this without compromising the quality of the degrees. (My experience in the UK was that just about anyone got a degree, and a third (that&#x27;s a grade, not a fraction) is basically worthless)<p>All this, I think, leads to two points. First, a lot of jobs in the UK require a degree, although it is not clear to me why. Secondly, while German universities might not be as present at the very top, the baseline seems to be a lot higher than in the UK (several factors play into this, among them the ability to switch subjects (due to lack of fees and very little social stigma) and not caring about retention rates, i.e. letting bad students fail), which is probably while the German diploma was so highly regarded.<p>(Another major difference I noticed was that in German universities, nobody checks up on you, and you are expected to take responsibility as an adult, whereas in England, it felt like the University was trying to be my Mummy.)<p>Lastly, the omnipresent reminder: foreigners don&#x27;t pay tuition in Germany, either. There is a language barrier, but I probably don&#x27;t need to point out all the articles which were here on HN not so long ago about increasing numbers of US and British students in Germany.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;de.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Abiturientenquote_und_Studienanfängerquote#Studienberechtigte" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;de.m.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Abiturientenquote_und_Studie...</a>