> If it were all free, I bet a lot fewer students would take it seriously and be more likely to enroll in less practical degree programs -- english, psychology

> If it were all free, I bet a lot fewer students would take it seriously and be more likely to enroll in less practical degree programs -- english, psychology, american studies (not architecture, engineering, design, as you mentioned). They would also not have any urgency to finish in time, to see well-paying careers afterwards. What are those people doing now if they didn't go to college because it was too expensive to pursue an "impractical" degree? Wouldn't providing people the option for further education be a net good for society in general? I'll choose to ignore the entire notion of "impractical" degrees. The society I want to live in is not without music, literature, and art. But those are "impractical" studies.