102: Why European schools might be better than American ones

If you're an American family considering a move abroad (or want to have kids one day), one major concern is education. Will your kids keep up academically? Adjust to a new culture and language? In this episode, we explore how European schools compare to the U.S.—and why they might be a better fit for your family.

We break down public, private, bilingual, and international school options, plus what to know about homeschooling and university pathways. From Finland’s top-rated public system to affordable international programs in Spain and the Netherlands, we help you match education choices to your goals and lifestyle.

By the end, you’ll be ready to make confident decisions about your children’s schooling abroad.

In this episode:

• How European schools approach learning and testing
• Public vs. international school costs and access
• Which countries make enrollment easiest for expats
• Legal tips for homeschooling abroad
• Why European universities offer world-class education at lower cost

Listen to the episode to learn more about education options for your family in Europe. 

👉Take the free quiz: Which European city should you move to? 🤔

Grab my free guide: 5 exact steps to move abroad

Website: jordangiberson.com
Instagram: @jordan.giberson

Transcript

0:00

Europe offers really, really strong education options from free to high quality public schools To elite international schools, the best choice for your family really depends on your goals, your kids' age, how long you plan to stay, you just need to figure out the best fit for your family. Hey, my name is Jordan Giberson. I'm a Texas girl living and thriving in London. The best thing I've ever done? Moving abroad, hands down. And I'm passionate about helping others do the same. Are you curious about finding a job abroad? You're in the right place, friend. I'll teach you the tried and true secrets of how to make moving abroad a reality for you and how to live a fulfilling life once you get there. We'll cover topics like choosing the best visa for you, how to get a job offer in another country, how to get over your fear of moving abroad, and how to live a life you love once you get there, this is The Move Abroad Podcast. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. Today we're going to be talking about why European schools might be better than American ones, if you're an American considering a move to Europe, especially with kids, one of your biggest concerns is probably school. Will your kids fall behind? Are they going to fit in abroad in in the different school options? And what about the language? I think that Europe offers many different education options. There are often more affordable options and sometimes even more rigorous options than the US. And maybe you have kids already and this is right on point for exactly what you're looking for, and you're looking for different schooling options. So regardless of where you're at with whether you want to have a family, whether you're considering it, whether you already have kids, I hope that this episode is helpful for you. So today we're going to be talking about the difference between public schools, private schools, talking about being bilingual, international schools, homeschool options, higher education. There are so many different options when it comes to schooling. In Europe, and sometimes it's different than in the US so you might think that private schools are probably better, but actually that's not necessarily the case. Sometimes public schools are better. So I do think that this is a worthy conversation to talk about, especially if you have kids now or if you're considering having kids in the future. I think that a lot of times as Americans, we think that the schooling system in the US is really rigorous as a strong option. It will lead to your kids getting into a great college, but actually sometimes schools abroad are more rigorous and are higher ranked. And can help your kids get into a better school, better than the US. So you might be thinking, I don't have kids. I don't plan on having kids anytime soon. That's me. I'm not planning on having kids anytime soon, but I do think that this is a valuable conversation whether you have kids right now or not. If you do plan on having a family. And you do plan to move abroad. I think that it is helpful to understand what the schooling system looks like and what would be potential for you and your family. Or you might listen to the different options and say, actually, I think I need to move abroad now before I have a family because I don't want to raise my kids in the schooling system abroad. Or you might say opposite. You might say, actually. The schooling system is amazing abroad, and I really wanna make sure that my kids are raised in that environment and are able to go to those schools. So let's cover some of the schooling basics. How do the school systems in Europe differ from the us? So in terms of the structure, kids have to go to school. It's the sameish as the, in the US you know, they'll be from four to six years old. Education is managed nationally, not by the EU. So the systems vary widely depending on the country that you're moving to. There are less standardized tests. There's more emphasis on mastery independence. And acquiring different languages. Students specialize a lot earlier sometimes as well. For example, in Germany and Austria, teens can choose their track for their academics whenever they're quite young, which can feel surprising to Americans. So they might be choosing like age 10 on if they value sciences more, if they're more interested in that or if they're more interested in. Math or in different subjects so they can kind of go down different tracks, which is quite early and is a little bit controversial in schools, but it also depends on the schooling system that you're in. So you can kind of choose the different options that work better for you. Like going to an international school, you might think that that's a better fit for your kids or going to a public versus private school. So there's so many different options. Also in Europe there are shorter summer breaks, but they have more frequent breaks throughout the year. So they're not gonna have like three months of summer vacation like you would have in the us, but they're going to have more like week long. Vacations and like two, three weeks a month or something like that. They're gonna have like more frequent breaks throughout the year, but they're not going to have like one huge break in the summertime. So I think there's probably some pros and cons to that, but that's something that's also really different from the schooling systems in Europe versus the US. In terms of the rigor and reputation of schools abroad, in a lot of countries, public schools are known for the rigor and they have really strong teacher training. So Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, they have really strong public schools that sometimes are even more rigorous than, than private schools or other schooling options. They have a really, really strong schooling program. So your kids will be very well educated in public schools. Private schools might not always mean better academics. Sometimes they're chosen for specific, curriculum. Like maybe you care about your kids going to a religious school or maybe a specific bilingual school. Or sometimes people wanna send their kids to a British school or an American school if they want to have specific curriculum. So it doesn't necessarily mean better academics. It might just mean that you want a specific track. So maybe you wanna send your kids to an American school because you want them to be able to go back to the US. Maybe you want them to learn American history and that's really important to you. So it just depends on the different, types of schools and, and what they offer. Another important note on just access about schools in general. So access to public schools depends on your visa and residency status. Some countries require long term permits before enrollment, so just check on the type of school that you're looking for and the type of visa that you'll have. Feel like generally you'll probably be fine as long as you have, a visa. You have to have a visa in order to live abroad. So a lot of times you're probably fine, but definitely look into it to make sure that this specific school that you are looking for does not require a specific residency status, a specific visa. Also, sometimes there are waiting lists in popular cities like Amsterdam, Berlin, maybe Barcelona. So it really depends on the type of school that you want. Maybe you want to send your kids to a specific. Religious school, maybe you wanna send them to a Christian school or maybe you really wanna send them to the American school, or you really wanna send them to an international school. So sometimes those have waiting lists. So do check on the school that you wanna send your kids to if you've done research on it, and make sure that there's not a waiting list in the popular city, like if you wanna move to a popular city. So those are just a few important notes on schooling systems and just some of the basics and how it. Can generally differ between the US and in Europe. And one other quick note I just remembered is, and I think I've already mentioned this, but in the US we often assume that private schools means that they're better. But in Europe it's just more about fit. A local public school might actually offer a much better education and offer a better cultural experience if that's why you're moving abroad. You want your kids to have that. Deep cultural experience, then you might receive that better in a public school than you would in a private school that you'd be paying a ton of money for, and that might not actually give your kids a better education. So just keep that in mind as we're talking about the different schooling options and we will get into all the different schooling options. Well, right now. So the first option that you would be considering if you're moving abroad and your kids are going to be going to school is local public schools. These public schools are probably going to be free, just like they would be in the us. They're taught in the local language, though some schools do offer bilingual or English support programs, so look into the specific school that you're thinking about and they offer a great path for your kids to be integrated fully into the. Culture and to have a longer term,, immersion in the culture and in the language and in the people and the way of life because it's public school. Some pros about local public schools is that they are free. They offer strong academics, especially in northern and western European countries. They are great for learning the local language. So especially if your kids are really young, they can pick up that local language really quickly. You can build friendships with the local kids a lot easier perhaps than if you were to send them to an American school. So they will be integrated into the culture more, and you'll just be able to immerse your family into the local community and culture better just through different school activities and just getting involved in the school really. Some cons might be that there is going to be a language barrier, which could be a bit tougher for your kids for the first year or two. I think especially if they're older, it's a little bit more difficult to pick up the language than if they're like. Five or six to like fully integrate into the school and be able to make good friends. I would also just make sure that you look into the Visa and residency requirements because it might be needed, you might have to have a certain type of visa to get into school, so just make sure you know what that looks like and the curriculum might feel just unfamiliar or too strict compared to the us. Like I said, the public schools can be quite rigorous and even more rigorous than the public schools in the US or even private schools or, I mean, you name it. Sometimes the public schools are the best schools and the curriculum might just look different. It might be just a different system. So you might say, actually, I think going to an American school might be better for my kids, especially if they're later on in the schooling system, like if they're in their last year or two of high school. Then maybe this might not be the best fit, but it just depends on what you're looking for. Sometimes they're less flexible. If you decide to go to a public school, they might have a very set curriculum. And like I said, I mean special education, it really just will vary quite widely, but it might be more limited where you can't really choose specific paths like you might be able to in some other specialized schools. So I'd say it's best if you are planning to stay in one country for several years to choose public school. I'd say also whenever your kids are young enough to adapt to the new language. So ideally if they're under age 10, but there's not a perfect number for this. I mean, it's really just what you feel is best for your family. I think it's also best whenever you want deeper cultural immersion for your kids just sending them to public school versus an American school, for instance. And I think whenever you make sure that you have the right. Residency status to access public education. Some quick examples of public schools and why they might be great is, Spain, for instance, they offer sometimes English and Spanish in public schools, especially in Madrid, for instance, or some bigger cities. Germany has a very strong public school system. They are highly respected and public schools typically outperform many private ones. They have a very strong public schooling system, which is not surprising for Germany. They're very on top of things like that. Finland is renowned for its free world class public education. So private schools are. Really discouraged. In Finland, they can't charge tuition and they have to follow the same curriculum as public schools, so they're extremely rare. So public schools are great in Finland and in the Netherlands. Dutch public schools often have bilingual programs with English instruction, so they are really great. They would be great four, your kids to integrate into the Netherlands and be able to go to public school and have bilingual programs with English instruction. But sometimes they can't have a waiting list, so just make sure that you know what school you want to go to and just do research on the different options in the city that you want to move to. But those are just a few examples of why local public schools are really great across Europe. The second option for education for your children would be international schools. I have highly considered international schools because I think they have some really interesting pros. And it's something that I have considered in the past, so, but we'll see. Whenever I actually have kids, what actually makes sense. But I think that international schools offers some really interesting, things. So an overview of international schools is that they are taught in English or sometimes in another international language, but often they're taught in English. They are common in big cities like Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, London. So I think that they're really great because they will attract an international community, which I think is really interesting in general because you might be moving to Madrid or you might be moving abroad so that your kids have an international perspective. But if you're moving to Madrid, you get to experience. You know, Spain, you get to experience Spanish culture, but I think it's cool because your kids could experience Spanish culture, but be in an international school with kids that are from all over the world. So I think it's really cool to have that international experience in school, but then be able to have your kids experience. Spanish culture or German culture or whatever it is in the country, that you're in. So some other pros would be that it's an English speaking environment, which would be an easier transition for American kids. I think that especially if your kids are, older and you think that it would be, a more difficult transition, I think that that could be a really good fit. So let's say they're in their. Sophomore year of high school and their senior year of high school, I think that that could be a better fit for them to be consistent with the American curriculum. So if you're, if they're used to going to US-based schools, if they are planning on going to US colleges, I think that they would be better equipped to handle that transition for kids, to keep with the same curriculum. I think that it prepares kids for college in the US or internationally. They offer a really strong sense of community for expats. So they offer, I mean, they'll attract people from. Like globally, really. But there will also be a lot of American kids there. I think they're consistent with US based curriculum, so I think that it might be a really good fit for your kids. Some cons would be that they are expensive. They'll have more expensive tuition, especially in Western European countries, whereas in Southern and eastern European countries, they'll be a little bit cheaper. They do offer less cultural immersion, so your kids might not learn the local language as deeply, and sometimes they are. A big expat bubble. You will not have local kids going to these schools. It's going to be international people going to these schools., And admissions might be competitive. They might have waiting lists to be able to get in. The annual fees might increase year over year. They tend to be a bit more expensive. So it really depends on what you're looking for. But those are some pros and cons of. When you might want to consider international schools, I think that it's best if your family moves frequently or might return to the US after a year or two. I think if your kids are older, if they're in middle or high school and switching to a new language system in the school, like if you went to a public school, it might be too disruptive for your kids if you also value having continuity or, like make sure that you're sticking with the US way of school, or if you want to make sure that they have good college prep for US colleges, some examples of American schools would be the American School of Paris and France. They have a US style curriculum and AP courses, which AP courses probably sound really familiar to you if you live in the us. But a lot of other schooling systems wouldn't have something like that. So if you want something familiar, that'd be an example. International School of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, they have, a good school there. Copenhagen International School. They have English instruction. American School of Madrid, they are US accredited. They are highly popular with, more like business families and maybe diplomatic families. So there are so many different options. And again, it will be in. Cities that are bigger across Europe. It won't be in the smaller cities probably, but there are many great schools that are, known of and, would be really strong options for your kids. So depending on what you're looking for, again, I think that different schooling systems offer different pros and cons. So that is international schools, which is the second option. Now the third option is private or bilingual schools. Private or bilingual schools might be the middle ground that you're looking for between local and international schools. They'll often follow the national curriculum for the country that you are living in. But they would teach in both English and the local language maybe. So that might be a better fit for, if you want to be able to, just have English as the main language. They might also be faith-based or more specialized depending on the school. There are a lot more. Religious based private schools in the us. So that might sound a little bit more familiar to you. Some pros of privates or bilingual schools will be that they might have a smaller class size. They'll have maybe more personalized learning. They'll have bilingual education as well, but it might not be as strong where it's like this is the German school. You'll only be speaking German here. This is not gonna be in English at all. So maybe it's, middle ground there. It offers less expensive tuition than. Full international schools, there might also be better cultural integration than international schools. So, there might be kids that are, local and have international kids there as well, whereas a, an international school would be like. More like people from different countries and not from the local country. So that might be a pro for you as well. Some cons is that tuition still gonna be required, but again, it's not going to be as expensive as an international school. And the academic quality just really varies by school. So you'll just need to make sure that you do research to make sure that they do have. A strong curriculum and just strong academics that it's a really good school. They might also require entrance exams or language tests, and they are going to be less common outside of the major cities. So it will depend on where you're moving to to make sure that there is a private or bilingual school. These schools are going to be best for your kids if you plan to stay a bit more long term and you want your child to be fluent in both English and the local language. This might be better if you value a more personal environment with some international exposure as well. So again, it's kind of a better, like a good middle ground. And it might be good for younger children where they can absorb both languages naturally and to have like some English speaking options, but also be able to speak the local language too. So it might be better. Like not just throwing your kids into public school might be a bit of an easier transition. Depending on the school that you're choosing, so that might be a better option for your kids for that reason as well. Some examples are that France, they offer privates, bilingual schools, that offer French and English immersion. In Italy, there are many Catholic schools that offer English tracks with lower tuition than international schools. So it really depends on the country that you're moving to and the city that you're moving to. So you'll wanna just do research on what schools are available. But there are many good options across Europe for private schools and like bilingual schools. The fourth option for schooling is going to be homeschooling or online US programs. This is going to vary widely across Europe. It's going to be legal in some places, and it's going to be very restricted or even banned in other countries. So really depends on the country. In Europe, a lot of expat families use US-based online programs like. K-12 or Calvert or Laurel Springs. There are so many different options and it will be critical that you do research to make sure that you are following the laws with this, because sometimes it's illegal to do homeschooling and there could be penalties that are very severe in some countries. So some countries do not like homeschooling or. Like they might be upset if you try to do that. So just make sure that you are doing research to make sure that you can legally homeschool your kids or do an online US program. Some pros of doing this is that it offers a ton of flexibility for traveling and moving. Maybe you moved abroad because you want to be able to travel to different countries and to show your kids. Maybe you wanna teach them history by actually going to the countries and showing them different things. It's also going to be consistent with the US curriculum because you're doing an online US program. It's ideal for short-term relocations or if you're wanting to world school your family by kind of like bringing them to different countries and showing them different ways of life and things like that. So if you plan to move abroad often, then this might be a good option for you, and it works really well if your children have unique. Learning needs. Maybe they have, something unique about them where they need something more specialized and you know them best and maybe this is the best option for your family. Some cons of a homeschooling or US program is that there sometimes are really strict legal restrictions where they might be banned in several countries. Maybe there are going to be limited socializing opportunities where your kids can't fully integrate into the culture or learn the local language because. They're not able to socialize. That might be a really big con as well., And parents, it's also a con because you do take full responsibility to be able to structure and make sure that, it's accredited that, you are fulfilling the obligations of. School and, and make sure that you're fully educating your kids for the age and, and what is required. And it might not be recognized for local university admissions. So just make sure you're being really careful with homeschooling to make sure that, you are able to fulfill what you need to, to make sure that your kids can get into a great university. Some examples of the legal status by country is that it's. Legal and pretty straightforward in the UK and France, Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland. Highly restricted though in Sweden. So it really depends on the program that you're using in Austria as well. It's like very restricted and it's absolutely banned. In Germany, for instance, they are, they strictly ban homeschooling. Spain might be a little bit legally ambiguous and confusing. So you'll just wanna be really careful with the legal restrictions for homeschooling. This option might be best if it works in the country they're moving to. Whenever your family moves very often or your child has very unique educational needs when the local schools just aren't a great fit or the language barriers are too high, maybe you don't have private schooling options or international schooling options because you're moving to a smaller, town and the local schools just aren't a good fit. It might be best if you're moving for a very short term assignment abroad. Like under two years, maybe you've also confirmed that, it's legal in your country and you've been homeschooling for years, then maybe you know this is the best fit for you. So those are the main schooling options for just regular education. So those options are the local public schools, the international schools, privates or bilingual schools and homeschooling or online US. Program. So I'll offer, a lot of benefits and like, there's definitely pros and cons to every option. And then the other thing I wanted to run through quickly is just higher education. I do think that it's important to talk about higher education as well. But I will run through this a little bit quicker. But. I do think that's, it's helpful to mention. So there is a huge draw for Americans to move abroad to Europe because there are highly ranked universities, there are lower tuition options and great programs that are in English. Public universities have, like, like I said, they are more,, cost effective. They are like, they have a very significantly lower cost in the US schools. But they are going to be perhaps more expensive for non-EU students in some countries. So it kind of depends on where you're going to. The pros are that they have more affordable tuition compared to the us. They have higher quality education, depending on the school. They offer a multicultural environment to be able to experience the education and be able to experience culture and life abroad. They have a great opportunity for residency after. Graduation or to have a great work visa after education, which is a good option to get your foot into being able to work abroad. And you can often graduate debt free or with minimal debt, whereas in the US you're gonna be graduating with a ton of debt. So I think that that's a big draw for Americans considering higher education abroad. There's sometimes less campus life though, in terms of cons than in US universities. There might be. A lot of paperwork for like visas and for residencies. The classes might be like, they might just be different types of classes. Maybe they're gonna be more theoretical or less hands-on, so you'll just wanna make sure that the class style fits what you're looking for. There might be different grading systems and academic expectations as well that people might be unfamiliar with, so it might just feel a little bit different, and maybe they would have. Like just other changes, like maybe limited flexibility or maybe you might not be able to change majors as often compared to the US system, so it just might be a little bit different. So you just need to look into the options and what that looks like for the country that you're moving to. And another con is that non-EU students, so that would include us Americans, you do face higher fees in some countries now, and it might even be. It might be quite expensive, so you do have to do research on the country that you're wanting to move to see what the tuition looks like. I do think that overall it's going to be less expensive than in the us, but it would be helpful to see what those costs actually are, depending on the country that you're moving to. And just in closing out higher education for your kids, I do think that if your teen is dreaming of studying abroad, I think that it'd be great if they could graduate debt free or with more minimal debt and perhaps even be fluent in another language. I think that could be a great competitive advantage in today's job market, so it could be quite advantageous for your kids to have higher education in in a country abroad. So how do you choose the right option for your family? I would say some key factors to weigh and you have to decide which ones are the most important to you, is how long you plan to stay. Do you plan to stay for just one year or many years? I think that would change. Which education option you choose? I think your child's age and how adaptable they are would change which option. I think your language goals, your budget, your curriculum flexibility, like if you wanna make sure you stay with the US system versus another system, perhaps your visa and residency. Requirements would change the visa options for you and your child's social and emotional needs during that transition. Might be a high consideration too. And also just special education or learning support needs might change the option for your kids. So see, those are some high factors to weigh in whenever you're deciding the best option for your kids. And you might even have more, like a different list than that. But I'd say those are some fairly common ones. I do think that you have to make the right choice for your family and you know your kids best and what would be the best environment for them. But I think some quick recommendations might be if your kids are aged 3-8, a local public school or a bilingual school for language immersion might be good for your kids. Kids this age can adapt quickly and learn the language. Pretty easily. So that might be a good fit for them. If they're aged like 9-14, maybe a bilingual or international school might be a good fit because it's a mix of being able to, like fully immerse into the local, culture, but also have some consistency. So I might consider the social and emotional impact of switching systems at that age, and then ages like 15 to 18 in international school or US online programs might be better for smoother transitions to university, kind of just finishing up school and there might be huge language barriers as well and there might be different academic systems that can be very challenging at this age whenever they're used to a very different system. So those are just some quick recommendations on different schools. And a quick example that I thought was really interesting is my boyfriend, he moved from Mexico to Germany at the age of like 14. And so he moved abroad and they went to a public school. And public schools in Germany are quite rigorous, and he's very, very smart, but he was literally failing like public school because the schools in Mexico were so easy. And he was like, dad, I am failing. If I don't go to like a, a private school for the rest of the semester, I'm, I'm going to fail. Or I think it was like the second semester he decided to go to a, a private school so that he could have an easier transition and be able to learn German and not fail because he really struggled. And then after that one semester of kind of. Making sure he passed that grade. He then went back to public school and, like he learned German very fluently because being thrown into that environment was not a good fit for him, like just being thrown into public school because it's a very rigorous program. So he had to make a quick transition to make sure that he passed that year while he was still learning German and just kind of like catching up academically. And then after that he went to public school and, and did quite well after that. So it's just interesting to see how. You do have to kind of think strategically about what schooling system is going to be the best fit for your kids, for their goals, for,, like the short-term goals and long-term goals for their education. So in closing, Europe does offer some incredible education options. I think that sometimes we think that the US is the best at everything, and I love the US. I think that we do things great in many ways, but a lot of times Europe offers really, really strong education options from free to high quality public schools to elite international schools, the best choice for your family really just depends on your goals, your kids' age, how long you plan to stay, and perhaps your residency status. So make sure you do your research early, especially around like whether there's a waiting list or if there's Visa requirements, just to figure out the best fit for your family. But there are so many different great options. So just do some research on which city you're moving to and what they offer for public schools and the schooling system and how strong it is in that country and the public schooling options, the international schools, and whether that's the best fit, private or bilingual schools or different homeschooling or online US Programs. So figure out what might be the best fit for your kid and if you decide to stay longer term, then also figuring out if it makes more sense to go to, like higher education college in, in Europe, or if you want to do your higher education in the US. So I think it just depends on, on your goals and on your kids' goals as well. So I do hope that you found this episode helpful, whether you have kids right now or you're planning on having kids in the future, and you might have kids while you're abroad, or maybe this is perfect for you, you already have kids and you're. Thinking about this exact question right now, like which European schools might be the best. So I hope that this episode was helpful for you. And. If you have enjoyed the podcast and would be willing, I would so appreciate it if you left this podcast a rating and a review. It just helps me be able to reach more people who are looking to move abroad and are considering questions like this of like, are schools even good abroad? So I would be super appreciative if you left it a,, a review and if you even shared it with another family that is considering a move abroad, maybe this is a perfect topic that they would highly appreciate, learning more about. So thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. I will catch you here again next week, same time, same place. I will catch you then.