Student Sued for Completing Degree Too Quickly

This was posted on Slashdot, FTA: University sues student who 'studied too fast' - The Local

Marcel Pohl completed his degree in three semesters rather than the usual 11. The school is suing him for

€3,000, which seems to be the cost of just one more semester at School of Economics and Management (FOM), in Essen, Germany.

Thought that would be interesting for the WGU One-Termers, though hopefully inconsequential for them.

EDIT: Wikipedia entry for FOM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOM_%E2%80%93_Hochschule_f%C3%BCr_Oekonomie_und_Management_%E2%80%93_University_of_Applied_Sciences

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Comments

Iristheangel

Good thing we don't live in Germany!

veritas_libertas

How dare he be motivated to work...

That is just bizarre.

the_Grinch

I was under the impression they didn't pay for college in Germany? Either way, yeah that sucks. European courts seem to have their heads on straight, I'm sure they will toss it out.

spicy ahi

I can't see how, if as he said it was cleared with the university ahead of time, they have a case at all? Kudos to the young man for getting it done, though. At least the gpa reflected the fact that he condensed essentially six years of education into a year and a half. If he got it done in the same amount of time and had a 3.8 gpa, I'd be testing him for amphetamines.

N2IT

Geeeesh it took me 5 years for my Bachelors alone.

cyberguypr

I am highly amused by the comments in the lines of "why rush, he should've enjoyed college life". Some people's priorities are just lovely.

Jasiono

the_Grinch wrote: »

I was under the impression they didn't pay for college in Germany? Either way, yeah that sucks. European courts seem to have their heads on straight, I'm sure they will toss it out.

It depends on where you go. I went for one year for electrical engineering.

onesaint

That's a pretty progressive move in a very conservative environment.

Raisin

It must be a cultural thing. An American university would have publicly praised the student's achievement knowing that the publicity will drive up enrollment at the school. This German college is making a big fuss over losing tuition from a single student and in the process will probably drive away many motivated students hoping to graduate early.

sratakhin

Sue for 3000 euro? What happened to the people?

NetworkingStudent

powerfool wrote: »

This was posted on Slashdot, FTA: University sues student who 'studied too fast' - The Local

Marcel Pohl completed his degree in three semesters rather than the usual 11. The school is suing him for
€3,000, which seems to be the cost of just one more semester at School of Economics and Management (FOM), in Essen, Germany.

Thought that would be interesting for the WGU One-Termers, though hopefully inconsequential for them.

I believe my college had a certain money limit that had to reach to satisfy some sort of graduation goal. During the last semester of my degree I had one class that was magically transferred in after it was calculated by the dean that I only needed 3 credits to graduate. I exhausted my student loan limit, so they were trying to play with the numbers. Why couldn’t they transfer this credit in the beginning?

Another thing I noticed is that after Obama passed some education law(relating to colleges having to disclose more info to students)…..The college that I graduated from now actually lists the price(tuition total) for completing a degree. I attended a for profit college.

From the Website:
“Pohl completed his turbo degree by dividing up all the simultaneous lectures with two friends and then swapping notes. At the same time, he completed an apprenticeship in a bank.”

After reading this, I wonder how much he learned? Additionally, did his friends do his homework for him?

Moreover, after reading the comments from the article..it sounds like a lot of germans don’t start college or working until age thirty or mid thirties.

Raisin

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

From the Website:
“Pohl completed his turbo degree by dividing up all the simultaneous lectures with two friends and then swapping notes. At the same time, he completed an apprenticeship in a bank.”

After reading this, I wonder how much he learned? Additionally, did his friends do his homework for him?

The article said he passed 60 examinations. I'm guessing that the school is using a competency model not all that different from WGU, pass the exam for one class then move on to another. The lectures probably give out some valuable information for the exams and keep students from advancing too quickly.

powerfool

More info on the university is provided in the OP. I am actually interested in working in Germany for a couple of years. Maybe while I am there I will get a degree from this place.

onesaint

I've been trying to do that for years and can't seem to get the Mrs. to agree. She grew up as a military brat and wants to stay put. Wouldn't it be nice to have the trains run on time though?

amcnow

This story is hilarious, but shouldn't be a concern for WGU students. As a matter of fact, WGU is pretty quick to sell students on being able to finish early. If they turned around and pulled a stunt like this, they would likely get counter-sued for entrapment and false advertisement.

I'm still glad I'm not looking to finish my master's degree early. The 2-year pace is just fine with me. The extra tuition is the (small) price to pay for a better work-school-life balance. Besides, I have tuition reimbursement through my employer.

whatthehell

Just goes to show you how much of a bloody business education can be.

SephStorm

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

After reading this, I wonder how much he learned? Additionally, did his friends do his homework for him?

People learn in college?! I mean, its debatable, but learning in most job fields comes from what a person does outside of the classroom.