So I don't think there's many people on the forum from over here, and I thought I'd share my views and experience.

There's government-sponsored and commercial colleges and universities. Commercial means, well, you just pay to enter. "Government" is a lot more complicated. The government subsidises a certain number of students each year, so there's a bit of a contest and a lottery to get in. However, commercial colleges are considered much more prestigious because, I guess, the professors don't rely on government-regulated income. And while government colleges do also accept paid students, the default position, so to say, is to get in for free. Otherwise it's generally thought you've just failed, because not many parents can afford to pay. Also the system is very corrupt and paid places often just accept anybody, regardless of abilities. Add to that the compulsory draft, which means 17 and 18-year old guys flooding into government colleges, not based on what they want to study and become, but where it's easier to get in, because the draft is a squirrely mess, with eligible guys treated like criminals from the outset, and rampant corruption.

Although I should say that was 10 years ago, but with the current political situation I don't expect things to have gotten a lot better. Also, I've mentioned on here that I hated university, and those are some of the reasons.