Study: German Students Not Oldest

Contrary to well-established stereotypes about Germany's student population, the country's budding academics are not that old when compared to colleagues in other European countries. According to Eurostudent, a recent study that examined the social and economic conditions of student life in Europe, the average age of German students is 24.4 years, putting them at the high end of the spectrum, with Italian students at the lowest end (21.2 years) and British academics topping the list with 28 years. The study, paid for in large part by Germany's federal education ministry, might be skewed a little, however, as many British people re-enter the academic system after working for several years and undergraduates in Britain still finish their higher education much earlier than their German counterparts.