College!

My current research question is: Why do many students, American and international, choose to attend American universities when many international colleges have reduced or free tuition? Three Academic Sources      Conti, Annamaria, and Patrick Gaule. “Is the US Outperforming Europe in University Technology Licensing? A New Perspective on the European Paradox.” Research Policy, vol. 40, no. 1, Elsevier B.V, 2011, pp. 123–135.      Gapinski, Andrzej J. "Higher Education: Europe vs. USA." 2010.      Rosenfeld, Stuart A. “Community College/Cluster Connections: Specialization and Competitiveness in the United States and Europe.” Economic Development Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 1, Sage Publications, Feb. 2000, pp. 51–62.

So far, I have decided to continue with my topic focusing on the demographics of college students in the United States and in Europe in comparison with the cost of higher education. I have thought this topic is particularly interesting from the beginning, but even more so since working on the analytical essay, where I have explored the types of students who attend college and receive financial aid in the United States. I have yet to refine this topic into a more specific idea, but I am sure that I will pursue something in this area. My exploration began with a Google search: "college in Europe vs US." This lead me to many results, mostly blog posts from a student's point of view or from college review sites. A search for "higher education in Europe vs US" showed me many more of these blog posts, as well as a research article, which will definitely serve as a great source from academia. After a few more searches, I found that the most useful terms to use were ...

I am thinking about writing my final paper about college in other countries as compared to the United States. During a recent visit to Austria, I learned that tuition is free or very affordable there as well in many other countries, but the attendance there is much lower as high school graduates often choose to go to trade school or enter the workforce. I thought this was very interesting, because in the United States tuition is much higher, and more often than not forces students and their families into debt for many years, but there is so much pressure for high school graduates to attend university. I would particularly like to explore the demographics of students attending universities in both settings.