From what i have read about Germany they do not rely as much on higher education for skills training as the US and UK. A good number of their students are trained within the corporate environment through apprenticeships more than classroom instruction delivered at universities. The article also states that the tuition charges were relatively new because they were established in 2006 and only one province was still charging tuition. The vocational training model Germany uses relies less on traditional university attendance that is common in the US and the UK, this model is also common in many of the former European colonies in Asia and Africa. I think the model might change in the future towards more university based learning which would make this expensive but if they are still heavily reliant on vocational training in mid sized companies it is probably not as onerous as it seems.