Educational Differences Abroad (Not Just New Different Accents)

By: Jaime Lunny

October 7, 2013

Walking to my first class at the University of Edinburgh, my curiosity about what a “Scottish class” would be like quickly turned into shock at the size of the crowds of students bustling between the different lecture halls. During Fresher’s Week, a week before classes that introduces and orients students with campus, I had realized the distinct size difference between this school and Georgetown. On top of the extra twenty-four thousand students over here, another jarring difference exists between the two schools. As a new friend from Glasgow soon revealed, university educations are free over here, and significantly cheaper for students from other parts of the United Kingdom.

In fact, students from Scotland and other EU member states, excluding the other parts of the United Kingdom, all receive free tuition at any of Scotland’s nineteen public universities. It is hard to not be jealous of this fact when I compare the fees my new European friends face in comparison to the Georgetown tuition costs I face every semester. This significant difference emphasizes a lot of interesting comparisons between the American education system and the Scottish one. The University of Edinburgh is an extremely prestigious school: it is ranked sixth in Europe and receives over forty-seven thousand applications each year. Yet, it also presents an opportunity for students who face limited financial resources to still achieve a quality education. With all of the current debate about the rise in tuition fees in America, this system leads me to wonder if the Scots are onto something over here.

The lack of tuition fees is also one of the contributing factors to the fact that so many first-year European students have not come straight from secondary school, but have instead taken a gap year before starting university. I have already met many European students who spent the previous year traveling, working, and volunteering around the world. Several friends have not only attributed this to the reason why first-years over here seem so much more mature than American freshmen in college, but also why students entering university here find it easier to focus on one subject from the start.

The importance of one’s focus of study has been the final distinct difference between university life here and at home. I was taken aback when the customs officer asked what I was studying at university and failed to understand my response of “a mix of different subjects.” The majority of first-years here already have a specific academic track selected and take a limited amount of classes in other subject areas. Unlike many of my fellow Hoyas, who entered school as undeclared and did not officially declare a major until sophomore year, students at the University of Edinburgh hit the ground running in their field of study.

The majority of students take time in the final years of schooling before university to explore various subject areas and thus are able to dedicate their four years at the University of Edinburgh to one specific field. In fact, one first-year friend is already planning the extensive research project he will complete next year regarding some neuro-biological connection to the growth of fungi... Rather than try and figure out what they want to major in, many European students are instead just dreaming up the possibilities of what they can achieve in their four years of study here.

Ultimately, my first month of class over here has introduced me to many alternative ways to approaching education, especially at the university level. I am looking forward to learning more about the Scottish education system as I spend more and more time as a University of Edinburgh student!

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