That’s fair. If someone wants to get a degree in a “field” that is not contributing to the society’s GDP, the degree is most likely only good as a signaling device for its holder. Paying their signaling cost out of the tax payer’s pocket is lunacy.

I recall that in France and Italy, tuition wasn't free, but it was on the order of ~200-300 euros per year. STEM degree tuition cost more since those students had more expensive facilities like laboratories.

Take this anecdata with a grain of salt; it's nearly 20 years old.