This article, "Why Finland and Norway still shun university tuition fees - even for international students" (http://sciencenordic.com/why-finland-and-norway-still-shun-university-tuition-fees-%E2%80%93-even-international-students) makes some valid points:
1. "Yet perhaps the most important difference between the Nordic countries and countries such as the UK is the ethos of education as a civil right and a public service rather than a commodity. Degrees are not seen as commodities to be exchanged in the marketplace."
2. "A high level of education is beneficial for the development of society including business and industry, making it a collective economic issue. With this argument, education is defined neither as a private investment nor a commodity, but a civil right. So, individual human beings should not have to pay for it."
Fundamentally, I think many in the US (and many other countries too) still view education as a private investment and not as a collective economic issue or civil rights issue, which some of here might contest. Ironically, though, many Nordic countries, including Finland, do not provide g/t services per se.
