free education here is africa tier from pre-school to high school.  all the money parents would spend in college, they spend in private schools that, in the end, after 15 years of paid education, if they're paying mid-tier private schools, will cost much more than an american will pay for 6 years of college. tl;dr: shit tier basic education.  only kids of wealthy people are able to study in those free college.  it's for from being "democratic".  most of people studying medicine or stem are often people the studied their whole life in private schools so they could be able to pass the admission exam, because free public school won't teach them shit.
Brazil