Maybe, but that education was good enough for the state to develop nuclear weapons and power, a world-class space program and competitive military technology.
And if you were born poor, you could also get the best education available in the USSR, unlike the West where elite education is mostly is the preserve of people with tons of daddy's money.
That's not true.
Soviet higher education was first a place for the learning of Marxism-Leninism theory first and the technical fields second. It put emphasis on exporting the revolution and reserved spots for foreign students from Marxist nations.
Admission into these universities was very difficult, since there were many more applicants than spots available. Applicants would require private tutoring to be able to pass the exams. Often connections of the parents in the party or the administration were required to enter, and bribes were not uncommon.
If you were a peasant-boy from some village you wouldn't have the connections or money to enter a good university, or any university at all.
Source - my family. Both of my parents studied in the USSR's universities.