<p>Here's a study released here in the UK this week that is getting a lot of debate as to its accuracy.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=483692&in_page_id=1770%5B/url%5D">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=483692&in_page_id=1770</a></p>
<p>My question is what would be considered normal in most countries--including the US--for college students? </p>
<p>I'm thinking the reason this is so controversial over here is that it doesn't take into account the wide disparity between study rates at different colleges (places like Oxbridge having students that are much more studious, while lesser-known colleges bringing the numbers down). I'm guessing that's probably true for colleges in the US and even in many other countries as well.</p>
<p>Comments, anyone?</p>
<p>According to the Academic Ranking of World Universities, approximately a third of the top 30 European universities and a quarter of the top 10 European universities are British. That seems to suggest that the UK has by far the best higher education system in Europe.</p>
<p>I won't comment on this particular study properly, but the Daily Mail article has several pieces of incorrect information. For example, the normal length of a degree nowadays in Europe, including Germany and France, is 3 years for a bachelor's degree, two years for a master's degree, and three additional years for a PhD. That's exactly the same as in the UK, except that, in Britain, one can get a master's in one year only. Considering however that several European countries, including Portugal and many German states, have 12 years only of pre-university schooling, even with shorter master's courses, the total time of schooling from first grade to a M.S or M.A is exactly the same in the UK and in those countries.</p>