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."