> By financing loans, aren't they already trying to do this? Building and operating more schools just adds more cost. You could say they are doing this but in

> By financing loans, aren't they already trying to do this? Building and operating more schools just adds more cost. You could say they are doing this but in a super inefficient way. With plentiful student loans you end up a lot of actors that capture the money that should be going to eduction (the goal). This includes schools (and their growing administrative departments, lenders, expensive sub-standard housing). You know when college was the most affordable in the US? It's when the states contributed the biggest part. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fancy-dorms-arent-the-main-reason-tuition-is-skyrocketing/ http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fancy-dorms-arent-the-ma... I'm personally in favor providing an option at decent post HS education to almost everybody for a modest cost (so people do take it seriously). This shouldn't be just college or generic 4 year university but also vocational training (HVAC, nursing, electrical). If you want to go to a private institution or non public-private partnership, that will always be an option. I also think there's a lot of room for redesigning the 4 year university. I did enjoy some (but not all) of my required electives courses like History of Theater, Early American Literature, History of Africa (you could pick an area), but I don't think it's ethical to shove down a year of classes that may or may not be helpful to people in their life and saddle them with additional debt for that so smugly we can claim they will be more rounded. You can also look at this from a selfish long term angle where we equip people with the tools for the future so they are more self reliant (less reliance on government programs) also offset with higher tax recipes in the long term.