Not as cheap as it used to be. Here in NC, just those last 2 years at a state school, instate costs (NOT including lodging or other living expenses) are almost $40,000. Not nothing.

Do you have any sources? I looked at the closest community college for me (De Anza) and it's tuition is 19,950 including 11,796 for room and board. Without that, since most college kids can live with parents, it's less than 8000[1]. And this is in SV, one of the most expensive places in the US.

[1] https://www.deanza.edu/financialaid/apply/cost.html

GP is talking about the last 2 years, not the first 2 years.

College education at US community colleges can be had for sort of cheap: you still have tuition in the $1000-2000 range per semester, as well as living costs. Example: Austin Community College, where a local resident (but not all Texans!) would be on the hook for about $1800 for a 15-credit-hour semester. If you have the good fortune of living in an excellent community college district, it can be pretty good; if you don’t… sorry.

College education in Germany and most other EU members is truly cheap: you have semester fees well under 500 EUR (when they were raised to that in Germany, massive protests pushed them back), plus living costs, no matter where in the country you went to high school or your parents live, no matter whether you’re sticking around at Eastern Bavaria University of Applied Sciences (a relatively new institution serving a traditionally less-prosperous part of the state, with enrollment open to anyone who got an Abitur) or managed to win one of the competitive computer science spots at Technische Universität München: both have semester fees around 100 EUR.