Freiburg University

The University of Freiburg was founded in 1457 by the Habsburgers and is the fifth oldest university in Germany. In a 20th-century addition to signify the pursuit of knowledge, statues of Aristotle and Homer (by C.A. Bermann, 1915) keep watch outside the hallowed halls of the Jugendstil Kollegiengebäude I. Inside the Kollegiengebäude III, a depressing, poorly lit assembly of cast bronze female figures--the Nine Muses (by Bettina Eichin, 1986)--reminds students of the unparalleled joys of higher education.

Germany's students aren't particularly thrilled with their universities at the moment. For the past few months, they've been holding demonstrations to protest the rising costs of tuition and a shift in degree programs to something more akin to American bachelor's and master's degrees. Freiburg students have been holding a sit-in in the Audimax lecture hall since mid-November.

Tuition at German universities costs a few hundred Euros per term. Is that a burden students and parents, or all tax-payers, should bear? Many tax-payers here think society as a whole benefits when its individual members are well educated. Of course, these are the same tax-payers who think society benefits when everyone has access to affordable health care. That just goes to show what kind of dangerous thinking a quality education can lead to.