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other poorer countries just pay all or most tuition for students and own the universities

The State governments do own many universities. To a large extent, the government is responsible for the current situation.

Also some of the universities are older than the government by hundreds of years and private, the government can’t just “own” them.

This is true, state gov does own many universities, though there was a concerted effort to bring the idea of privatization and deregulation there too since at least the 1990s by cutting subsidies.

I met a Polish student a number of years ago who was attending a U.S. Ivy League institution. She said people made fun of her back home for "buying her degree". That has stuck with me ever since.

In most such countries there is also an entrance exam requirement that would exclude most student loan borrowers in the US.

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