England charges the highest tuition fees in the OECD — and spends less public money per student than Germany, France or any Nordic country compared here
Countries with little or no tuition fee are not spending less on university — they are collecting the cost through general taxation instead of fees and loans.
Domestic tuition fees at English universities average $13,135 (PPP) a year — the highest in the OECD, against an OECD average of $3,186. Germany, by contrast, charges most bachelor's students no general tuition fee at all.
Fees are only half the comparison
Government spends $7,896 per tertiary student a year in England — against $19,500 in Germany, well above the OECD average of $15,102. Low tuition fees elsewhere are funded by higher public spending, not by spending less overall.
A classification quirk worth knowing
OECD's international dataset classifies English universities as "government-dependent private institutions", not "public institutions" — a UK-specific quirk of institutional legal status, not a reflection of how much the state actually funds or controls them. OECD's own England country note directly compares this category's fees against the "public institution" fees used for the US, Germany, France and the Nordics, so the comparison on this page is one OECD itself makes — but the classification difference is worth knowing, so England's universities are not mistaken for "private" in the everyday sense.
Country by country
View as table
| Country | Domestic/EU tuition | Non-EU/EEA fee | Public funding share | Govt spend per student |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | USD (PPP) 13,135/year — the highest in the OECD, ahead of the US ($9,596) and Poland ($7,497). OECD classifies English universities as "government-dependent private institutions", not "public institutions" — see the caveat on this page. | — | 44% | $7,896 |
| Germany | No general tuition fee for a first bachelor's degree at public universities, for German and EU students, in most states. A mandatory "semester contribution" of roughly €70–430 applies regardless (often includes a public-transport pass). | Baden-Württemberg charges non-EU students €1,500 per semester (since 2017); Bavaria permits individual public universities to set their own non-EU fees, at institutional discretion. | 83.8% | $19,500 |
| France | Statutory fees set by government, low: licence (bachelor's) €178/year, master's €255/year, doctorate €398/year — plus a mandatory €105/year student-life contribution (CVEC) all students pay regardless of fee status. | Differentiated fees for non-EU/EEA/Swiss students since 2019: licence €2,895/year, master's €3,941/year — non-EU doctoral students are exempt and pay the same rate as EU students. Universities may exempt some students from the differentiated rate; the exact current exemption cap was not confirmed to a primary-source standard and is not stated here. | 68.8% | $14,238 |
| Sweden | No tuition fee for Swedish, EU, EEA or Swiss students. | Fees for non-EU/EEA students introduced around 2011, set independently by each institution — no single national average fee is published. | 83.6% | $24,044 |
| Finland | No tuition fee for Finnish, EU or EEA students. | Fees for non-EU/EEA students introduced around 2017; OECD's average non-EU/EEA master's fee for Finland is USD (PPP) 14,292/year. | 89% | $18,141 |
| Norway | No tuition fee for Norwegian, EEA or Swiss students at public universities and university colleges. | Fees for non-EEA/non-Swiss students introduced from the academic year starting 2023. | 94% | $27,256 |
| Denmark | No tuition fee for Danish, EU, EEA or EFTA students. | Non-EU/EEA students pay institution-set fees on a cost-recovery basis, roughly DKK 45,000–120,000/year (about €6,000–16,100) depending on field. | 81.2% | $24,113 |
OECD averages for comparison: 71.9% public funding share, $15,102 government spend per tertiary student.
Germany
BAföG — a state grant/loan hybrid for eligible domestic students, separate from tuition (not itemised further on this page).
France
Means-tested CROUS grants and low-interest state-guaranteed loans for eligible students (not itemised further on this page).
Sweden
CSN (the state student aid authority) provides a combined grant-plus-loan package to eligible domestic/EU students — around SEK 13,500 for a 4-week period in 2025, split roughly 30% grant / 70% loan. Non-EU students are generally not eligible for CSN support.
Finland
State study grant and loan guarantee for eligible domestic/EU students (not itemised further on this page).
Norway
Lånekassen (the state education loan fund) provides a loan by default, up to 40% of which converts to a non-repayable grant if the student completes the programme within income/asset limits (2026 full-grant income limit: NOK 234,821/year).
Denmark
SU (the state education support scheme) provides a means-tested monthly grant (DKK 1,060–6,820 in 2024) plus an optional loan of up to DKK 3,489/month, to eligible domestic/EU students — 94% of first-cycle domestic students receive a grant.
Is it really free?
No system is costless — the question is who pays, and how
Every low- or no-tuition-fee country on this page spends more public money per tertiary student than England does — Germany $19,500, Sweden $24,044, Finland $18,141, Norway $27,256, Denmark $24,113, all funded through general taxation, against England's $7,896 in direct government spending per student (offset instead by tuition fees and loans). "Free at the point of tuition" is not the same as costless — someone still pays, through general taxation rather than fees and loans.
What this does not show
Which system is "better"
This page compares how each country funds university, not outcomes — graduate employment, degree completion, or research output are not assessed here.
An exact, current non-EU fee-exemption cap for France
Some secondary reporting describes universities being allowed to exempt a shrinking share of non-EU students from the differentiated fee over time — this could not be confirmed against a primary French government or Campus France document strongly enough to publish an exact figure, so none is given.
The precise year non-EU fees began in Sweden and Finland
Widely reported as 2011 (Sweden) and 2017 (Finland), but not independently reconfirmed against a primary Swedish or Finnish government document for this page — treated as directional context, not an exact verified date.
Last verified 2026-08-31. Data: OECD, "Education at a Glance 2025" — country notes.
Related pages
- In this sectionThe price of a degreeThe rest of this chapter.
- In this sectionThe student debt timelineWhat England's system costs a borrower directly.
- In this sectionThe university expansionHow England's own participation grew under this funding system.
- In this sectionEducationThe other chapters, and how this section is built.
Scope and definitions
Every country has its own definitions
This page compares national systems that differ in academic-year length, currency, eligibility rules and what counts as a "public" institution — each figure is attributed to its own country and year, and none are combined into a single cross-country average beyond the OECD's own published averages.
Only the England figures are England-specific
Education is devolved. Every figure on this page is England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland operate different frameworks with different legal definitions, and their figures are not directly comparable. The other countries on this page describe their own national systems.