If the personal responsibility extends only as far as a summer job, or even a part time job year round, then the rest of the responsibility must fall to someone else. Who would that be?
The cost of a public college should be affordable on a full-time low-wage summer job + 5-8 hours per week during the year. It was that way until the 90s or so. Irresponsible spending at the colleges + poor government policies such as the reduced value of minimum wage have changed that. You should not have to save 100% of 36 weeks of full-time wages just to pay tuition. What this number means is that paying for college without debt (average is creeping up on $40K now) or living in your car is effectively not possible if mom and dad don't have money. Full stop.
Forcing this on people is NOT asking them to be responsible. It's forcing them into debt servitude, which damages the entire society.
So the colleges have to be responsible, too. So does the government (see Dude's excellent points in that regard). Why don't the universities have to be responsible with their spending?
I agree that the sports should go back to the intramural level. At that level, playing on a given college team was about things that benefited the student, not the college and the NCAA.
