
Ask HN: How affordable is a degree for a CS job in your country? - unimployed
I’m having trouble finding good compiled information covering more than a sprinkling of the Americas and Europe, so I figured I’d ask HN.<p>How affordable is it in your country <i>as a resident</i> to attain a respectable degree for a computer science job? By respectable I mean a FAANG would consider hiring you based on the degree and the university (4 year BA&#x2F;BS minimum).<p>If you can reference affordability to another nation (such as the US, UK, CA, etc.) that’s even better. Please consider typical incomes after taxes if you can.<p><i>ESPECIALLY WANTED</i>
Figures from Asia: India, China, South Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, Turkey, etc.
======
nikonyrh
Approximate facts from Finland: Bachelors program is 3 years and Masters
(which basically everybody does) is extra 2. There was a major shift from
direct subsidies to government-backed loans on 2017 but first I'll refer to
the benefits I got.

My university fees were about 100 eur / year + books etc. Housing was
subsidized by 80% so if you live on the campus on a shared two-bedroom unit
you had to pay out of pocket maybe 50 - 60 eur / month. In addition I got a
"salary" of 330 eur / month while studying, so not in summer break during
which I was doing internship. You can get a student loan as well, up-to 400
eur / month. If you graduate on time the government will pay 40% of your
student loan on the part in the excess of 2500 euros.

Under the new system students get paid 250 eur / month + the 80% housing cost
(up to a limit), and can get up-to 650 eur / month loan. You are expected to
work during the summer and there are still no benefits. If you graduate on
time the government will pay 30% of your student loan on the part in the
excess of 2500 euros.

After graduating and working for some years you can expect a salary of 3500 -
4500 eur / month which is about 2500 - 3000 eur / month after taxes. Here the
salary differences are very small across jobs and tax progression is fairly
high as well. Add employer's expenses and 24% VAT and then hardly anyone can
afford to hire someone to clean their home once a month so everybody does it
themselves instead.

Finnish source:
[https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opintotuki](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opintotuki)

------
tlb
In the US, the range goes from from $0 to $400k. There's a benefit in prestige
and connections from the higher priced ones, but you can absolutely succeed
with the $0 option.

Most Ivy League schools have need-based scholarships that bring the cost to $0
for students from low-income families, but you need great entrance test
scores. Lambda School (I'm an investor) pays you up front, and takes a
percentage of your income later.
[https://lambdaschool.com/about](https://lambdaschool.com/about)

~~~
unimployed
Looking to compare degreed programs only unfortunately.

~~~
tlb
Still, I think the fact that the range goes from $0 to $400k for degreed
programs in the US means that assigning a particular number is fairly
meaningless.

~~~
unimployed
Agreed. Looking for typical costs like median or average (not atypical
extremes).

------
mtmail
Germany: essentially free. In my city the university charges a mandatory 16
Euro (18 USD) per month for all-access public transport.

~~~
unimployed
What kind of taxes do Germans pay? It gets difficult to compare a German
higher education to other nations when the costs are embedded in taxes instead
of tuition. That’s part of the reason I want to compile more information.

------
gfyu8uygiu
Israel:

annual tuition of BA 2019: 10,289NIS

annual median salary 2018: 12*7,452NIS = 89,42NIS

