Someone would still have living expenses so it's not like they could just hang out at school the whole time. If someone really wants to work in restaurants and be a professional student who cares?

Realistically, having college remain free helps people who later in life want to change careers, but need some education to do so. We pay a lot of lip service in the US to retraining the workforce, yet do little to facilitate the training.

I reimburse my child per a formula: A = 100%, B = 80%, C = 60%, etc. 4.0 GPA = 120% (hasn't happened).

I will happily pay for everything, a full ride, as a parent or a taxpayer, if the student does the work.

You've just disincentivized your child to take organic chemistry.

Ya, that's a good point. As a taxpayer and a parent, I do want students to dabble. So maybe cover the first two years, no questions, no qualifications. Thereafter, I'd want any effort I'm paying for to be made in earnest.

Optimize for least amount of challenging classes, impose huge monetary penalty for risk taking. Sounds like you're doing a stand up job in parenting.

Thanks. I do my best. I'm glad you approve.