I totally agree, I think most level-headed people do.

It's a tricky problem. We want people to have equal opportunity to pursue college, even if their parents can't afford it. But at the same time, we don't want to subsidize cost creep.

Clearly the current solution doesn't work. Alas, we're deeply invested in it (literally), and each passing year the entanglement grows.

I think you can make a strong case for govt-funded tuition at public universities. But I don't know how to get to there from here without making a handful of people very unhappy.