Those aren't blank checks though. The problem with the US system is that the government is backing loans with no regulation of what the universities charge, wit

Those aren't blank checks though. The problem with the US system is that the government is backing loans with no regulation of what the universities charge, with the result that tuition costs have increased to the point where most middle-class people couldn't afford to send their kids to school if it wasn't for loans. Government paying education costs and regulating the price can work. Government paying education costs and not regulating the price is just corporate welfare.