I'm not disagreeing, but presumably at least some portion of those expenses would be paid back in some way. The Australian model has the government provide the

I'm not disagreeing, but presumably at least some portion of those expenses would be paid back in some way. The Australian model has the government provide the student loan. The interest rate is fixed to CPI and repayments are garnished directly from salary provided you earn over a certain amount (something like 50k). Students also get discounts via copaying which was about $500 per year from memory. The government obviously never breaks even directly from this scheme. I think they've begun to exclude certain degrees that don't have good prospects which is a big debate at the moment.