Ah, there it is. 'Largely frivolous degree programs'. Not everyone can (or should!) be in STEM, the point of higher education is that having an educated populace with a wide variety of topics is good for the overall health of your country. Regardless if it's art history or psychology, a healthy nation needs a balance of educated individuals.

And to address your first posit: You would be objectively wrong. It is a remarkably ignorant America-centric viewpoint considering many other nations and countries do in fact have free college for their individuals. It does not devalue the experience at all. Why is it that we can't learn through what other nations have done?