Students in the UK pay £9k (~$13.5k) per year out of pocket for the 3 year university system. They were paying just £3K (~$4.5k) until 2012. University was free in the UK until 1998. Many universities in Germany still remain free.<p>Is this because the British or German society values education less? No, it&#x27;s because Europeans pay more taxes on average, and their governments use this to subsidize the sticker price of tuition in tandem with funding and guaranteeing student loans. In the US, tax money is only used to guarantee student loans, while private universities are left to their own devices when it comes to pricing tuition.<p>Price is not always a good proxy for value. You need to look at who is paying for it, and when.