Like every other public policy in Italy, their approach to college funding was a bit complex. The short version ties a student’s university subsidy to his HS performance. A kid who graduated with all A basically got a free ride. A C student got something like a 50-50 split. Rich fools could go on Papa’s dime. The Italians considered it a national waste to keep a bright student from education.

(They also considered it a societal waste to push a kid with great furniture restoration skills into a Comparative Lit program.)