I'm from Austria. We have 0 (zero) tuition fees. Sounds good right? Well... actually... not that great if you are ambitious, because it means that Austrian un

I'm from Austria. We have 0 (zero) tuition fees. Sounds good right? Well... actually... not that great if you are ambitious, because it means that Austrian universities are over crowded. It is extremely common to see "long term" students, essentially people who study for 10+ years so they get state benefits as a student. Ambitious people will struggle to complete their studies in the minimum required time (e.g. 3 years for a Bachelor's), because overcrowding means that there are long waiting lists for exams. Some students need to enlist to a waiting list for an exam before even joining the university if they want to have a chance to do an exam in time so that they can finish within the 3 years. It's just complete bonkers. Of course, because the EU is led by fucking geniuses (not), they thought it would be a good idea if any EU citizen is allowed to study in any EU country, meaning that Austrian universities are not only overcrowded, but overcrowded by Germans who don't want to pay tuition fees in their home country. It's easy for them because we speak the same language and Austrian students miss out on spaces and miss out on exam opportunities forcing them to study much longer than needed. Honestly, it's a perfect example of how two populist headlines such as - free tuition fees - any EU citizen can study in any EU country sound great on the news and abroad when you want to make your country/EU look good but in reality are a complete disaster. I would have preferred to pay some fees which then would have meant that I could have had a normal university experience, but instead I didn't finish my degree at all because of those dumb socialist-populist policies which put me in the difficult situation of either aborting my studies and finding a job because my dad died, my mother was ill and I had to help out or study for an extra 2 years and struggle for the most basic things in life.