Are the churches using atheists to gain more converts?

[abaris]

Still - in quite a lot of Europe higher education was free until quite recently, so even some of those country bumpkins were able to get some sort of education - more so than in US, anyway.

Free isn't free. You still need to eat, to wear cloths and to find some place to bunk. If your family can't afford to feed you through years of university, you're screwed and left with the same deal many Americans get. And that's pretty much the case in Europe also. There's next to no upwards mobility in most European countries. Born poor, pretty good chance to die equally poor.