That would be great. I've seen too many people coast off of prestigious degrees, while other hardworking people struggle because they do not have the same access to quality education.

Note, that OP isn't suggesting that the educational process be centralized. Just the funding. Unlike K-12 public schools, universities will still maintain full autonomy on how they want to go about teaching or structuring curriculum.

European countries offer free education, and their quality is still great.