I'm not sure what the Italian model is now but I know it used to be something like this: - University is basically free but does not include room and board -

I'm not sure what the Italian model is now but I know it used to be something like this: - University is basically free but does not include room and board - First year of university is essentially open to anyone - To get to the 2nd year, you must pass difficult exams with a very low pass rate That means that the number of people with "some college" is very high but the number of people with a degree is much, much lower. This way they get to say "college is free for everyone" while also getting to limit who "everyone" is.