I am a natural born US citizen of Colombian heritage.
My first degree was a double major of Information Systems/General Business and a minor in Philosophy. I got it in the US, at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana in 1992. My tuition, meal ticket, apartment, insurance, and spending money was 4,000 us a semester. 1500 hundred was covered by grants, and the rest was me waiting tables and bartending.
My second degree was in economics in Colombia at a private university. 2000 was the year and my tuition was about 1200 USD a semester. Just for tuition. I worked for the university in the computer science department and was a sub ESL teacher, and so my tuition was waived.
I also had a wild hair and studied law for a bit a public university but al fin no me llamo la atencion.
I have worked in Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico. The company I worked for specialized in letting computer science majors do their internships and then hired the best of the best.
In the US students tend to work while in school. In Latin America some do, but the majority do not. It is almost a insult to suggest to a Latin American student that they have an after school job. Not too mention the 18-20 year old grown men not being able to cook, wash clothes, and basically take care of themselves without being under their mothers skirts.
Sure some of the best unis in Latin America, are state run. In Colombia only the best of the best get into them.
In the US many people can go to a community college, then to a public uni etc. But people like to get grants, loans, stay in school forever, live beyond their means, and accumulate debt. It is not the school systems fault but the individual students. You can go to an inexpensive school, work full or part time, or you can ride the government teat and run up huge loans. No one signs the papers but you.