Being free doesn't mean they drop all their standards. Even in paid schools today you can be expelled and/or kicked out of a class for terrible performance, attendance or inappropriate behavior. As long as you keep those standards, free college should be fine. Now if you're talking about crowded classes and/or not enough teachers, maybe we should prioritize schools & teachers more and sports less... but that's a whole other discussion. I strongly believe school should be free. I expect Germany to do well with their recent changes:
http://thinkprogress.org/education/2014/10/01/3574551/german... "At least for now, however, learning German might be the best financial choice an American high school student can make."
AFAIK, Norway offers this privilege even to international students, while Sweden gives it to any EU citizen
At what point do you draw the line for free education? I've definitely heard similar arguments about sending kids to private high-schools and middle schools, but I don't think we should force people to pay for a middle school education.
When you ask people to pay for something they rightly should expect something in return. They should also be able to set limits. There are many colleges offering degrees in nearly useless if not useless areas. There are many that simply exist to farm loans, scholarships, and the like.