The difference is that the german system is only just adapting to tutition fees, and there is hardly any "support-infrastructure" implemented at the moment. No chance for a stipendium or anything. There WERE no tuition fees when most of us started studying, so none of us has a back-up plan. The future is looking very bleak for a lot of students coming from economically weaker families, especially if you keep in mind that the german recession is getting more and more vicious every week, and it's tough to get a job if you havn't either studied, or completed an apprenticeship in some job or other...