"Society should pay for it, since society will benefit from it." OK, but if someone is paying for it then it's not free. Whether "society" (whihc I'm guessing

"Society should pay for it, since society will benefit from it." OK, but if someone is paying for it then it's not free. Whether "society" (whihc I'm guessing really means tax payers) should foot the bill is a different matter. There's a good self-interest argument that one is better off in a society where more people are better educated, but the devil is in the details: Who gets funding, with what strings attached, and so on.