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How is it that the US with some of the highest tuition and rent in the world can't deliver half the quality of Danish public universities? For example: Tietgen

How is it that the US with some of the highest tuition and rent in the world can't deliver half the quality of Danish public universities? For example: Tietgenkollegiet. It has great shared spaces, great rooms, amazing green spaces and water features, and has bike infrastructure and public transit readily available.

Kranar 5y ago
Mostly because of accessibility. Danish universities, while being free, are much less accessible than the U.S and also lower than the OECD average: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cac https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cac
yeahwhatever10 5y ago
US universities have all these amenities, while also serving 40k+ students. How many students attend a Danish public university?
- Ichthypresbyter 5y ago
  Copenhagen University has 38,000 students.
  - dagw 5y ago
    And Tietgenkollegiet mentioned above can house less than 400 of them. The fundamental difference is that the University of Copenhagen (like most European Universities) don't take on the responsibility of housing students. For various reasons many US Universities also provide the actual housing the students live in.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- sudosysgen 5y ago
  The university of Amsterdam has 32k+ students. So, around as much. Generally countries have universities of similar sizes but fewer of them.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
jk20 5y ago
Rent and tuition in the free market economies exist to extract money, paying it back in some form somehow defeats the purpose.
dagw 5y ago
Tietgenkollegiet is a small experimental project housing less than 400 students with apartments starting at $500 a month (not including electricity or heating). Hardly a fair comparing it to a project that needs to house thousands of students who cannot afford anything else. Also no one would consider Tietgenkollegiet in any way typical Danish student housing.
- fabianhjr 5y ago
  > Also no one would consider Tietgenkollegiet in any way typical Danish student housing. I consider it is fair to mention Tietgenkollegiet since this is a discussion around dormitory/college hall architecture and quality. Most of the dorms in Europe and the rest of the world are more similar to normal apartment buildings however unlike Charlie Munger proposal they are lower density (more space per resident in both common and personal areas) and have windows to the outside world. I would expect _any_ proposal to improve on designs to be more livable not less; the increasing in density of dormitories, decreasing common spaces, and removal of windows is indicative of American Decline[1]. Even soviet khrushchyovka[2] from the 60s/70s _are better_ than the proposed dorms and it is something normally derided by American discourse. > starting at $500 a month (not including electricity or heating) That seems very close to UF/UA rent: - https://www.housing.ufl.edu/living-options/rental-rates-2/ https://www.housing.ufl.edu/living-options/rental-rates-2/ - https://housing.arizona.edu/home/rates-applications-policies/rates https://housing.arizona.edu/home/rates-applications-policies... Couldn't find the UCSB monthly rent but seems it would be way higher than the previous two. ( https://www.housing.ucsb.edu/current-residents/move-in/residence-halls https://www.housing.ucsb.edu/current-residents/move-in/resid... ) [1]: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/American_decline https://www.wikiwand.com/en/American_decline [2]: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Khrushchyovka https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Khrushchyovka
hn_version_0023 5y ago
Corruption. A billionaire’s design bypassed the normal approval committees because he waved money around. What else would it be? We excel at being corrupt (Congress? Healthcare? MIC?) AND deluding ourselves into thinking we’re the best. It’s a farce, and to my eye it seems to be slowly collapsing in on itself.

Kranar 5y ago

Mostly because of accessibility. Danish universities, while being free, are much less accessible than the U.S and also lower than the OECD average: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cac https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cac

yeahwhatever10 5y ago

US universities have all these amenities, while also serving 40k+ students. How many students attend a Danish public university?

Ichthypresbyter 5y ago
Copenhagen University has 38,000 students.
- dagw 5y ago
  And Tietgenkollegiet mentioned above can house less than 400 of them. The fundamental difference is that the University of Copenhagen (like most European Universities) don't take on the responsibility of housing students. For various reasons many US Universities also provide the actual housing the students live in.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
sudosysgen 5y ago
The university of Amsterdam has 32k+ students. So, around as much. Generally countries have universities of similar sizes but fewer of them.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

jk20 5y ago

Rent and tuition in the free market economies exist to extract money, paying it back in some form somehow defeats the purpose.

dagw 5y ago

Tietgenkollegiet is a small experimental project housing less than 400 students with apartments starting at $500 a month (not including electricity or heating). Hardly a fair comparing it to a project that needs to house thousands of students who cannot afford anything else. Also no one would consider Tietgenkollegiet in any way typical Danish student housing.

fabianhjr 5y ago
> Also no one would consider Tietgenkollegiet in any way typical Danish student housing. I consider it is fair to mention Tietgenkollegiet since this is a discussion around dormitory/college hall architecture and quality. Most of the dorms in Europe and the rest of the world are more similar to normal apartment buildings however unlike Charlie Munger proposal they are lower density (more space per resident in both common and personal areas) and have windows to the outside world. I would expect _any_ proposal to improve on designs to be more livable not less; the increasing in density of dormitories, decreasing common spaces, and removal of windows is indicative of American Decline[1]. Even soviet khrushchyovka[2] from the 60s/70s _are better_ than the proposed dorms and it is something normally derided by American discourse. > starting at $500 a month (not including electricity or heating) That seems very close to UF/UA rent: - https://www.housing.ufl.edu/living-options/rental-rates-2/ https://www.housing.ufl.edu/living-options/rental-rates-2/ - https://housing.arizona.edu/home/rates-applications-policies/rates https://housing.arizona.edu/home/rates-applications-policies... Couldn't find the UCSB monthly rent but seems it would be way higher than the previous two. ( https://www.housing.ucsb.edu/current-residents/move-in/residence-halls https://www.housing.ucsb.edu/current-residents/move-in/resid... ) [1]: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/American_decline https://www.wikiwand.com/en/American_decline [2]: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Khrushchyovka https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Khrushchyovka

hn_version_0023 5y ago

Corruption. A billionaire’s design bypassed the normal approval committees because he waved money around. What else would it be? We excel at being corrupt (Congress? Healthcare? MIC?) AND deluding ourselves into thinking we’re the best. It’s a farce, and to my eye it seems to be slowly collapsing in on itself.