You don't need college to develop critical thinking and learn how to learn. In fact, by the time students reach college, it's already too late: the main complaint I hear from acquaintances that teach at private colleges is that students don't want to work for the knowledge; they expect an extension of high school with a diploma at the end.

And no matter how enlightening this experience is, we can't ignore the financial side. A young person saddled with $50,000 in debt and no prospect of a high-paying job is in effect a serf. Add a mortgage a few years down the line, and you are ensuring that this person will never be free.