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I live in Canada... in a country where I pay way more taxes and I've paid for more than a few kids to go to university by now with those taxes. So perhaps my degree wasn't so cheap in the end wink I'm ok with that.
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... Having free, or affordable, or more merit based scholarships doesn't mean you'll all of a sudden have 90% of the population getting a degree. It means that the people with the marks CAN apply to go to school. They still need to either put in the effort to get the marks, maintain the marks for 4 years and get the degree. The change is that you remove the "and afford it" from the above equation. The problem is that it is in the best interest of those currently with money to keep it as is when they can afford to pay. Having it more affordable will likely mean the bar will raise and perhaps exclude their kids.
Some may say that the 10% or more who do not go to college, yet pay taxes to fund college for other individuals (under the plan mentioned above) may be seen as a form of servitude or slavery: Taking advantage of less fortunate individuals to fuel greater gains and prosperity for more academically inclined individuals. Creating this additional hardship could be considered an issue of social injustice.

It is my understanding that the American Dream (which may be different for different people) included keeping the costs/benefits together: Those who were attending college and receiving the benefits of higher education also paid the costs, which were rather reasonable until recent years. For decades, it was possible for students from all walks of life to work their way through college.

Many come to the US from other lands to be educated here; Many have been unfamiliar with the American possibility of returning to college as adults to earn a degree.

The American Dream, in literature, has not consisted of utopia created by centralized government control... rather centralized government control has been treated as dystopia. There is a saying that Power Corrupts; Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.

It seems many would be interested in a college/university experience which would be both free at point of service and also a meritocracy, while not being burdensome to those not personally partaking, and not administered by a centralized government thereby creating a social strata of mandatorily funded privileged government elite.