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Students in America face some of the highest tuition globally. That may not be much of a surprise. More disturbing is the fact that they don't earn as much as their Danish, Swiss, and Norwegian counterparts, according to a recent study by studentloanreport.org. Higher education in Denmark and Norway is also tuition-free — so workers have both a high earning potential and generally no student loans. (Click to enlarge image below.)

In Switzerland, tuition is less than $5,000 per year and workers earn an average annual income exceeding $80,000 — that's $25,000 more than the average in America. Annual earnings in Ireland are about the same as in the U.S. — $55,000 — but schools are tuition-free. U.S. tuition has increased by 63 percent from 2006 to 2016, studentloanreport.org said. More than 44 million Americans have taken out loans to pay for college, and their debt now totals $1.4 trillion. "We walk around thinking that America is the best place to earn an education, but when you take a look at the facts, you start to see that earning a degree abroad is actually a smarter move to make," said Rick Neil, CEO of RN Public Relations and a spokesperson for studentloanreport.org. Although getting your degree outside the U.S. can be an excellent way to save, only 45,000 Americans chose to do so in 2016, said Neil. For those seeking to save money, they may want to steer clear of certain countries. In the United Kingdom, for example, students pay tuition that's on par with the U.S. Even so, Britain is by far the most popular destination for American students seeking to get their degree abroad. Of those attending school outside the U.S., 36 percent of them are in the U.K.