Should college education be free?

Americans collectively owe $1.7 trillion in student debt. That's not a personal finance problem - it's an economic crisis. Young people are delaying homeownership, marriage, and having children because of debt. Meanwhile, Germany, Norway, and dozens of other countries offer free university education and have thriving economies. Public education through 12th grade was radical once too. It's time to extend that to the degrees the modern economy demands.

Germany also tracks students into vocational paths at age 10 and has far fewer universities. You can't cherry-pick the 'free' part without the selection mechanism. And the $1.7 trillion debt isn't from reasonable college costs - it's from administrative bloat, luxury amenities, and degree programs with no market value. Making college 'free' would pour gasoline on that fire while forcing plumbers and electricians to subsidize philosophy degrees through their taxes. That's regressive, not progressive.

The 'underwater basket weaving' argument is tired and wrong. The college wage premium is $900,000 over a lifetime - for ALL degree holders, not just STEM. And we already subsidize college through Pell Grants, tax credits, and state funding - just badly and inequitably. A unified free system would actually be more efficient. Besides, we found $800 billion for bank bailouts and $2 trillion for tax cuts that mostly benefited the wealthy. We can find money for education if we choose to.

A lifetime wage premium that's been shrinking every decade as degree holders flood the market and credentials inflate. And efficiency? Have you met a government program? The VA can't process claims in under 6 months, but we're going to efficiently run every university? The real solution is making existing college affordable: cap administrative growth, expand community colleges, incentivize employer training programs, and stop telling every 18-year-old that a four-year degree is the only path to success.