I've studied at a public university in Brazil. Students from private schools were always mocked as being less intelligent and hardworking, starting with the selection process to get in: since everyone wants an education free of cost, the best students are selected for public schools.

But still, I'm pretty sure it's less of a matter of quality of education, and more of a lack of interest from students combined with a systematic problem of private schools. Hopefully they're able to require passing this exam to rectify this situation. Currently, that already happens for law schools.

Students that are paying a fortune can expect and demand high grades for little work, they’re paying extra for the “deluxe” degree where all the hard stuff is done for them. It’s really common with for-profit universities.

Ah, the American approach

Trust fund babies. Just like here.

I mean... American minimum wage comes out to $1256 monthly (assuming full-time, and that's pre-tax). Community college comes in pretty cheap at $450 a month on average, but four year universities come up to $4,800 on average (assuming full-time enrollment for both). The cheapest MD programs I can find are still close to twice the minimum wage, and that's assuming you get in-state tuition, since out of state is usually 2-3x more.