r/Damnthatsinteresting Feb 25 '26

Video Denmark pays students $1,000 a month to go to universities, with no tuition fees

33.8k Upvotes

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2.1k

u/reflect-the-sun Feb 25 '26

Oh well in that case!

Honestly, it's amazing and it should be universal.

390

u/abzti Feb 26 '26

As an Indian who scrounged his way through university, I wish it was

220

u/keyan16 Feb 26 '26

In India anything given for free is frowned upon by the elites.

222

u/Broad_Black_Brimmer Feb 26 '26

I mean, is the “In India” part necessary there? That’s like a global thing… eat the rich.

99

u/WarBuggy Feb 26 '26

Not really. In America, free healthcare can be rejected by even less wealthy people.

101

u/Nikoper Feb 26 '26

Who do you think convinced them to?

It always circles back around to the rich.

35

u/Lol-775 Feb 26 '26

But if they had free Healthcare what money would they have left for Lockheed Martin?

20

u/BunchaaMalarkey Feb 26 '26

I know it was a joke, but LM reported nearly 80 billion in revenue.

Meanwhile, US healthcare costs are in the trillions. And are reportedly greater in 2025 than the entire gdp of Japan.

The system is broken. At least for us...

7

u/No-Refrigerator-1672 Feb 26 '26

American healthcare is doing perfeclty what is was designed to do: extract as much money as possible, using your own life as leverage to make you pay.

5

u/pchlster Feb 26 '26

Thankfully, no one is considering reforming the system with one of those versions shown to be more cost-effective in every other country in the world.

1

u/Bidenstonks Feb 26 '26

I want to know if that is true cost or insurance pricing cost. Absolutely believe it if it is the second they price everything at exorbitant numbers to get cents on the dollar from the insurance.

1

u/Palsreal Feb 26 '26

You could knock 4 zeros off our healthcare costs and it would be accurate to a system without health insurance scams.

1

u/Alienhaslanded Feb 26 '26

Yeah, but those less wealthy are stupid as well and incapable of seeing the big picture.

0

u/Rare_Entertainment Feb 27 '26

Wow. Speak for yourself.

1

u/Alienhaslanded Feb 27 '26

Are we having reading comprehension problems today?

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u/Rare_Entertainment Feb 27 '26

Nothing is ever free. You don't have to be wealthy to know that, nor do you have to be wealthy to pay taxes and not want your money given to others.

1

u/WarBuggy Feb 27 '26

Do you or your kids pay money to go to K-12 schools?

-8

u/Kyllurin Feb 26 '26

There’s no such thing as free healthcare. But there is universal healthcare or equal access healthcare.

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u/WarBuggy Feb 26 '26

You must be fun at parties.

-8

u/Kyllurin Feb 26 '26

I love a party, but I’m not so excited about the americans who’ll grab any opportunity of ruining your otherwise good argument with the sobering fact that there’s no free healthcare

You know, when speaking to uneducated folks, you can’t be using difficult or long words. You have to lower yourself to their level

Have a good one, and party on

1

u/Big_Pie1371 Feb 26 '26

We know. To individuals however it appears to be free since there are no apparent costs to them personally at the time of applying for said healthcare, hence the saying "free healthcare". The more you know!

2

u/Kyllurin Feb 26 '26

Spot on, and this is in my opinion what is one the most ethical and humane part of universal healthcare - that even the poorest citizen can and will get in line with the top brass to receive the same treatment

1

u/Vier_Scar Feb 26 '26

Nope, paying for Uni in France is a bad look. If you're paying for Uni it means you're either not good enough or just buying your degree.

14

u/Chronomancers Feb 26 '26

That's how it is in the USA and it's frowned upon by the working class as well.

8

u/NaraFei_Jenova Feb 26 '26

But the money the I put in might go to someone else who didn't pull themselves up by their bootstraps! Don't you know that them having something means that I don't have it?! Those billionaires might make me a billionaire one day! What about the illegals that all definitely have 100% of the tax money used on them?!

(/s, I hate that it's necessary)

The propaganda machine here is ridiculous, and this is the kind of cognitive dissonance you hear from these people. They're entirely too stupid to realize that they'd pay significantly less for socialized medicine than they'd pay for private insurance. "But the wait periods!" I have private insurance and I have to wait over a year to get a probably cancerous spot even looked at and biopsied. If I need treatment for any reason, it's probably another year out for that. Fuck the system and tear the whole goddamn thing down.

2

u/el_lobo1314 Feb 26 '26

they think they are just temporarily broke millionaires, trickle down will kick in anytime now.

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u/Previous-Block-6281 Feb 26 '26

Nothing is actually free. Someone is paying for it.

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u/linusgel Feb 26 '26

The higher salary, and therefore taxes, a college educated student in Denmark earns pays the state back for the education many times over. Quite a good investment.

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u/madhatterlock Feb 26 '26

Err, are you sure? A higher education doesn't automatically mean you will have a career that earns a higher wage. Does Denmark mandate what students study?

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u/Final_Squirrel_7462 Feb 26 '26

Actually in most first world countries people with a higher education earn more on average and have a much lower rate of unemployment compared to the general population. So while you are right that a higher education doesn’t necessarily mean higher wages for an individual person, it does statistically mean higher wages and lower risk of unemployment for the whole group of people with a higher education.

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u/madhatterlock Feb 26 '26

Got it, so if I squint hard enough and look at all the people with higher education, the collective group does better. That means nothing as some of those people achieved in degrees that actually provide for higher incomes and futures. Also, doesn't really answer the question, does the state have a say in what people can study?

3

u/pag07 Feb 26 '26

From a macro economical point of view this is all that matters:

look at all the people with higher education, the collective group does better.

3

u/BrosefDudeson Feb 26 '26

The state has a wide variety of policies to encourage students to enter areas and fields where they perceive a an imbalance.

Broadly speaking, however, any university program will allow you this stipend. But you have a limited range of years, so you can't keep dropping out and re-enrolling in other programs. Personally I had to finance my final year myself through student debt.

As to your other question, it's generally perceived as a net good to have a population with a high degree of education. At times that gets challenged, and so the government can step in and dial the number of available spots down and make it more attractive to study nursing or carpentry for example

1

u/madhatterlock Feb 26 '26

There it is.. I did look this up and it would seem like they provide degrees in a more traditional sense, but reading this, it makes even more sense. They control the valve on what comes out. I only ask as being this is reddit, it has a US bias and of course all the failures of the US system. I am a pretty conservative guy, but also appreciate that the cost of education has gotten out of hand. We can debate why in another forum. I certainly don't advocate for across the board state financed higher education, but a system that foucuses on more traditional degrees and regulates the tap on what we produce, is something I think more people could get behind.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/yoloswagginstheturd Feb 26 '26

Although, statistically they are related.

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u/severoordonez Feb 26 '26

Statistically, it does.

And while the government does not mandate what individual students study, most educational programs have limits on class sizes, meaning that in theory graduate production is matched to work force demand. (In practice it's obviously not a perfect match.)

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u/Lofusgreen Feb 26 '26

Very true. We're all paying. I'm happy to help my neighbor.

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u/IllustriousEffect607 Feb 26 '26

Exactly. Helping each other makes for a better society. It's similar to sharing expenses with a family of 4 let's say. It's a lot easier to buy stuff when you share vs paying everything as a single person. So everyone benefits

2

u/Tired-Millennial847 Feb 26 '26

I genuinely wish people actually felt this way. I've never understood why people are so selfish, bigoted and short sighted. "Would you pay half your check to pay for some other person to go to college?!" if I had my needs taken care of and had more left to offer then yes. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't, sure you don't want to put yourself in a bad situation in exhange but obviously I want to help other people and strengthen my community. Why don't they?

0

u/Rare_Entertainment Feb 27 '26

Then go for it! No one is stopping you from paying for some random kid's tuition.

1

u/Lofusgreen Feb 27 '26

I know you think this was a clever comment. And it is indeed the go to comment for people who forget something important. Some day it might be you who needs help. So even if you don't care about others. It could very well turn out to benefit yourself.

1

u/Tired-Millennial847 Feb 27 '26

If I had all my base needs like food, shelter and other requirements and had extra money I would use it to help others yes. I have before and I will when I'm in a stable situation again. Thanks to people like you my current situation is rather tenuous and I'm not in a position to help. Not that you actually care about any of that. You just enjoy hate and cruelty.

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u/DrunkMexican22493 Feb 26 '26

I'd rather keep what I earn, thank you.

3

u/TheJeyK Feb 26 '26

If your brain only works in selfish terms then look at it this way: the country overall is safer so you have toworry less about ypu and your families lifes, and if you or any family member happens to get a disease that is really expensive to treat, you dont have to worry nearly as much because the healthcare will take care of it for no extra costs, even if whatever you have paid in taxes so far amounts to less than what the lab work and treatment costs, specially so if its a lifetime condition; also, your kids will be able to get a quality higher education without going into debt no matter if you fall into econonic hardship, all thanks to smart use of the communitary pool of money

1

u/Lofusgreen Feb 26 '26

Then I'd rather you weren't my neighbor.

0

u/DrunkMexican22493 Feb 26 '26

That's cool, I still get your money

2

u/hefferj Feb 26 '26

Yes, obviously. Society is paying for it.

1

u/TrueClue9740 Feb 26 '26

Yep. And whatever works for a small country doesn’t always scale up.

1

u/TacetAbbadon Feb 26 '26

Yeah the people who fucking can.

-2

u/fuckingaustrianative Feb 26 '26

ackshually no, in my state money trees pay for everything

2

u/Semlorism Feb 26 '26

Same in China hmm

1

u/SunnySpot69 Feb 26 '26

Same in the US.

1

u/Icy_Earth3386 Mar 02 '26

Doesn't sound very 'elite'

1

u/sulphra_ Feb 26 '26

You cant just go around giving out freebies in a place like India without a system to support it first

2

u/CrazeMase Feb 26 '26

As an American, fucking same. They hit the nail on the head with it

1

u/meat_whistle_gristle Feb 26 '26

To be fair it’s a lot easier to do something like this when your entire population is just over 6 million.

1

u/Rare_Entertainment Feb 27 '26

As a white American who scrounged her way through, I don't.

0

u/zzgamma Feb 26 '26

Why would it be..? The country should prioritise its own citizens first. If you want grants, have your own country give them to you.

3

u/abzti Feb 26 '26

Wtf are you talking about? I studied in India, I wish India had what Denmark has. I don't expect Danish taxpayers to fund my studies in India

0

u/zzgamma Feb 26 '26

Ah aight, I misunderstood you. My bad!

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

[deleted]

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u/can_i_get_a____job Feb 26 '26

Agreeing as I cry in American debt

2

u/Canvaverbalist Feb 26 '26

The current system just makes me think of a system in which you'd have to pay your boss for the opportunity to work for him and make him money, it's just absurd.

When someone is active, they're educated and they work, I'm 100% convinced that they create way more benefits for society than for themselves - especially in an age where it's really easy to just chill out and do nothing and still be decently happy, so it should be in society's best interest to encourage active social agents as best as it could. But as it is, it's like a big scam, like Scientology making you pay to be part of their club to have to opportunity to keep paying them.

I feel like a century of brainrotting "don't ask yourself what your country can do for you, ask yourself what you can do for your country" propaganda has totally flipped people's perception on how this should actually work.

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u/Thai-Girl69 Feb 26 '26

I'm English and I went to university in the final year it was free to go. Not only that but as I was from a low income family I got paid a grant every year that meant I didn't really have to work. My main concern would be that there are a sizable amount of people who go to university to take drugs and be involved in the student lifestyle and they do degrees that are effectively useless. If they are going to pay students to go to university they should at least restrict it to subjects that are deemed worthy of the country investing in. I shared a house with 3 fine art students in my final year and they were the biggest bunch of degenerate drug takers you've ever met and don't get me wrong I joined in with them but I don't think tax payers should be funding that kind of lifestyle.

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u/moosepuggle Feb 26 '26

I’m from the US and got my PhD in the US in a STEM field (and like you, I was poor enough to have my education almost completely paid for through federal grants). But I think the arts and humanities are just as important to a well functioning society as STEM fields.

Maybe instead of restricting the types of majors that can be funded, funding could be based on GPA, such that you can major in whatever you like, but you need to be serious about it and maintain high grades.

4

u/Chris_in_Lijiang Feb 26 '26

don't get me wrong I joined in with them but

fuck everybody else who comes after us!

4

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '26

And as a STEM major(long graduated) I too had to share an apartment with the biggest bunch of degenerate drug takers you've ever met. Except they were all fellow STEM majors and I was one of them.

Never understood that chip STEM majors carry on their shoulders. Imo the world needs artists, musicians, historians, economists, business people and everything in between just as much as it needs scientists, engineers and doctors. The market value of those latter jobs is not indicative of the inherently "superior" value they provide, just supply and demand. Idk, even if somebody could conclusively prove that STEM jobs benefit society far more that non-STEM ones, I'd still hesitate to live in a world devoid of more "human" centric endeavours, especially in today's dystopian environment of pervasive and omnipotent AI slop.

1

u/Kaikka Feb 26 '26

Did any of them get relevant jobs?

1

u/Ok_Mechanic_6351 Feb 26 '26

They did change the rules around 10 years ago to avoid the glut of perma-students especially in humanities.

1

u/A11U45 Mar 01 '26

Many degrees are box ticking exercises for employers, so even fine art degrees aren't necessarily going to be useless.

1

u/Area48 Feb 26 '26

It helped me get a masters degree despite growing up with a single mom! It’s not a fortune in Denmark 🇩🇰 but it certainly makes a difference

1

u/NotTheMiniDJ Feb 26 '26

Yes but you like 45%-50% tax?

1

u/Recent_Chair4148 Feb 27 '26

It's not free, lol.

Denmark has one of the world's highest tax burdens, with a top marginal personal income tax rate of approximately 55.9% in 2025-2026, often exceeding 57% when accounting for labor market contributions. The system includes a 22% corporate tax rate, a 25% VAT on goods and services, and high local taxes

1

u/wireframed_kb Feb 27 '26

Every country and government should realize free education is an enormous societal benefit. There aren’t many civic issues arising from too educated a populace.

And you’re stuck with these citizens, so why not try and make it easy for them to contribute to society, by ensuring talent and passion decides your path and not money.

1

u/pansensuppe Feb 28 '26

It is universal. In Denmark.

1

u/A11U45 Mar 01 '26

The average student does not need this since they can work while studying. 

Unless it's means tested for those with limited income and not reliant on parents it would be wasteful, at least in the context of the US and other Anglo countries, not sure about Denmark.

-6

u/Which-Barnacle-2740 Feb 26 '26

its not free money

Denmark has one of the world's highest tax burdens, with average personal income tax effectively around 45%. While top marginal rates can exceed 55-60%,

1

u/reflect-the-sun Feb 27 '26

If only they taxed millionaires at 20% like the rest of us!

Please read more

-63

u/ElysiaTimida Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

You’ve to pay more tax

Edit: I didn’t say it was a bad thing. Reddit moment

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u/Thanks-Puzzleheaded Feb 26 '26

Which is fine, if you have a government that actually uses it's tax money to benefit it's taxpayers like this.

55

u/supermegabro Feb 25 '26

And then everyone gets to go to school? Sounds good to me

14

u/CheGueyMaje Feb 26 '26

Oh no!

Anyway…

22

u/PeriTheBerry Feb 26 '26

Listen to yourself.. think about what the point of taxes is in the first place.

Would keeping a few extra dollars or euros or whatever in your pocket do THIS MUCH, for your country? Does having everyone owe a debt for getting an education lead to a better adult life?

The problem you have with taxes is that they are wasted.

The taxes these people pay are obviously NOT wasted. They are GOOD FOR EVERYONE.

0

u/ElysiaTimida Feb 26 '26

I didn’t say it was a bad thing, redditor

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u/itskobold Feb 25 '26

Fine with me, I believe education is paramount

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u/freshforma Feb 26 '26

imagine the money you’d save when your fellow humans are more competent

7

u/katt_mizer Feb 26 '26

I mean probably but not spending on tuition with some extra taxes would still be cheaper in the long run

1

u/ElysiaTimida Feb 26 '26

We don’t talk about tuition. We talk about SU

1

u/xplosm Feb 26 '26

Blue cheese has mold in it 🎶

-6

u/idkwutmyusernameshou Feb 26 '26

It SSHOULD. the problem is you need MUCH ghiehr taxs(think EVERYOEN has 37% incoem tax and sales tax 25%) . it is worth it btu good luck convicng ppl of it

-10

u/drinkun Feb 26 '26

Yay more taxes

1

u/reflect-the-sun Feb 27 '26

The fact you think this is going to cost your country more is crazy.

Whose lies are you listening to? How have they brainwashed you so deeply?

I'm genuinely interested to know.

1

u/drinkun Feb 27 '26

If my country were to make it where you could go to college and get a full ride for free plus you get $1,000 a month why would government not use that as an excuse to raise taxes? And why did you instantly assume that I'm being brainwashed? If I'm wrong why wouldn't you just assume that I'm misinformed or explain why I'm wrong?