Not going to explain the French education system once again but...
If you have good grades in High School and enough motivation, you can get into CPGE: two years to prepare competitive exams for Grandes Écoles, the top schools in France. CPGE is free.
Then if you are admitted to a public Grande École the fees are under €1000 per year. You will earn way more with your (mandatory) internships. Oh, and if you're poor the State will give you grants that are more than enough to pay for scholarship, rent and food. You will not get these grants if you study at 42.
Actually, if you are very good the very best Grandes Écoles (ENS, Polytechnique) pay their students to study there.
So to sum things up:
- The best schools in France were already free.
- Less competitive education (university) was already free.
Something like 42 in the US would make a lot of sense. 42 in France fills a niche, but not much more.
