This is a gross oversimplification of a much more complicated issue. Even if this was all affordable, it doesn't take into account any second order effects. Fo

This is a gross oversimplification of a much more complicated issue. Even if this was all affordable, it doesn't take into account any second order effects. For example, European GDP per capita is typically ~75% that of the US GDP per capita. Have you ever considered the possibility that the tax regimes of European economies might be a contributing factor to this? Or have you considered what differences in attendance look like? For example the US has significantly higher than OECD average for tertiary education achievement (https://data.oecd.org/eduatt/population-with-tertiary-education.htm https://data.oecd.org/eduatt/population-with-tertiary-educat...) Now, imagine what our achievement would look like without any cost for the education. Further, consider this doesn't take into account graduation rates. It may very well be the case that US graduation rates are lower than European rates implying even larger costs in the US. What about the effects of such policies on quality? The US is typically seen as having excellent higher education quality. Would a regime under which higher education becomes free require wage freezes for professors? Increases in class size? Decreases in extra-curricular support? What about the many Euro countries that offer free higher education but to a much smaller sample of the population by making it extremely restrictive (i.e. Germany)? What's mind boggling is that anyone could ignore the massive tradeoffs of such a widespread and costly project as free higher education in the US and simply refer to it as "magic".