one of the possible way would be to follow the French model, where all secondary education(university-and-higher level) is free, but is agonizingly difficult to

one of the possible way would be to follow the French model, where all secondary education(university-and-higher level) is free, but is agonizingly difficult to pass. If I remember correctly, the French universities fail 75% of first-year and second-year students in yearly exams, with only one chance to re-take the exam; in other words, you get only three shot of writing an yearly exam, which you must pass twice within 2 years. Only when you prove yourself worthy(of national investment) and get to the third year do you get the respect you deserve. If you fail twice in your area before the third year? Too bad, you can't study your degree in any school from the country and have it paid by the country, ever. It's rather harsh 'weedout' system that may be unfair in some regard, but the point is that you only let those who are dedicated enough to climb up, to walk home with a diploma which they deserve. Nowadays it seems as though the diploma isn't a sign of distinction, but a norm; in other words there are simply too many university graduates. This should change, in my opinion. Someone mentioned the era of baby-boomers, and I partially agree; back then, entering the job market with a college diploma meant that you were promised a prospect for a house, a car, and a life with a backyard: the middle-class American life. A point I'd like to make is that in the era of baby-boomers, a college diploma was worth it because there hadn't been many with higher education. Besides, what parent wouldn't want his/her children to have a worse life than him/her? If you spent your twenties to forties with the benefit of diploma, or have watched others' life with the benefit, wouldn't you want your children to live with the diploma, the promise you hadn't got? This resulted in a vastly high supply of college/university graduates; and as the law of supply-and-demand dictates, the value of diploma has now been in steady decline. The problem isn't that the university is too expansive; it's that the university education is too expansive compared to the benefits it promises. If I were to suggest the solution to this problem, I would suggest to make diploma really, really worth it. We already have mandatory weedout courses in computer science: Generally one with pointers or operating system, the one most kids without the aptitude simply can't pass. Reduce the number of graduates we produce, either by capping it, or making the graduation impossible without the aptitude or dedication. Is it unfair to some people? Yes, to the slackers who treat university as a away-from-parents paradise with fun and booze. Liberal arts or English majors shouldn't be made fun of because of their life choice, but should be respected for their dedication to the studies. If you ask me, I'd say there are simply too many kids graduating with Lib. Arts major who don't deserve a tenth of the elaborate philosophy.