to students has its advantages and drawbacks.

Many countries have some kind of financial aid program for their students. In countries that provide education to all at nominal cost, financial aid may have only a tertiary link to educational status, instead tied to the economic conditions of the family, and financial support for students is primarily indirect. In Belgium, for example, "[t]here is no system of student loans and direct support is only given in the form of means-tested grants to students from