You just made an apples oranges comparison. In the UK a bank or consultancy will hire you regardless of the degree, which is true for a ton of places and in my

You just made an apples oranges comparison. In the UK a bank or consultancy will hire you regardless of the degree, which is true for a ton of places and in my experience including Germany, that's just the nature of many multinational consultancy companies. But don't think you can do EE in the UK without an EE job, or that an EE graduate can become a structural engineer or something like that, which is no different from Germany, either. I've studied in various countries in three continents and I feel it's mostly the same. Then the argument you make that follows doesn't make much sense, either. If Germany has such a strict degree-to-job path relative to other countries, you'd think Germany's engineering companies wouldn't mind paying rewards through salaries for engineering graduates (or indeed paying direct sponsorships for students). I'd say Germany's police is such despite the fact businesses don't strictly require it, but that it's simply better for society in general because it improves everyone and works as an equaliser, as a way to boost equal opportunity. After all the notion 'anyone can take a loan if they want to climb the ladder' differs immensely. Even if tuition is completely 100% free, the fact some of us are already providers by age 18, means the opportunity cost of merely dedicating time to studying in the first place for 4 years, is an immense one. Sure its great you don't have to pay to go to school, but if you have to forgo a full-time job and you're a or the provider in the family, that's a heavy burden that requires decisions to go into debt even if tuition is inexpensive or free. It's part of the reason why those in lower socioeconomic groups go to college disproportionately less often for their success in high school and 'eligibility' to access and do well in college. In that respect I think Germany made an excellent decision.