I was just reading some interesting data on Norway's "free" (government
paid) college availability.

Turns out that although "free", only 14 percent of Norwegians who have
parents who did not attend college ... go to college. 58 percent born
to college educated parents go.

What's interesting is that these numbers are almost *exactly* the same
for Americans in a non-free college system which suggests it isn't money
that inhibits people from attending college ... rather it is due to
social influences.

Here's where the systems are very different. In Norway " ...primary and
secondary schools are funded nationally, not locally .... so there’s
ostensibly no difference in education quality between higher- and
lower-income towns and cities, as there might be between wealthy
suburban and poor urban districts in the United States."

And:

" ... the Norwegian funding system is very easy to understand, while the
American system of grants and loans is complex and often confusing, even
to families with college-going experience."

"But the principle of social equality in Norway also means that there
are no programs providing academic support to first-generation or
low-income students in college, although there are a few for immigrants
and women in fields in which they are underrepresented."

http://hechingerreport.org/in-norway-where-college-is-free-children-of-uneducated-parents-still-dont-go/