> accreditation is de facto mandatory and creates an artificial shortage of colleges, keeping tuition high. More specifically, it creates an artificial shortag

> accreditation is de facto mandatory and creates an artificial shortage of colleges, keeping tuition high. More specifically, it creates an artificial shortage of affordable colleges, i.e., those which offer federally assisted financial aid programs. > Why not try what works in most European countries: fund colleges adequately and shift the burden of the cost from the individual to society as a whole? This article seems to offer a solution in line with some European countries --- most notably, Germany, which famously has a dual education system [1]. Not everyone needs to go to college, and I think there's a high likelihood that not everyone should, given the success rates of vocational high schools and equivalent colleges. I also don't think that free or reduced college costs make sense or are a net-positive for society in general. For one, college is essentially an investment which increases your earnings potential over time. Subsidizing college is approximately like society giving 17/18 year olds free money (to the order of >$100,000) to invest. I don't think society giving away money on the order of 6 figures is a good idea, not to mention that you would run to severe problems such as misaligned incentives/principal agent. Furthermore, free or heavily subsidized college seems to disproportionately benefit the class of U.S. citizens who most likely go to college, i.e. upper-middle-class families, which I don't think need the most help right now. (I've heard rumors that college-as-an-investment might not be the best analogy; please correct me if that's true/I'm wrong.) [1] https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Dual_education_system https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Dual_education_system