The U.S. Navy has seen its ship production drop to a 25-year low, falling behind Chinese production even as the service faces increasingly complex threats around the world.
That is how most countries that provide free education work. If you had read the article, you would see they end up with just as much debt as Americans.
Since education itself has no known negative side-effects, why limit access?
Cost. Even in countries where it is free, they end up in just as much debt as here.
Subsidizing the cost of public goods is absolutely within the government’s remit.
We already do. Do you think public colleges don't receive tax money?
The barrier is simply cost. It would cost too much to do. We already run at a deficit, which is driving inflation. Taking on a wasteful cost, such as paying for idiots to get college degrees, would add zero benefits and destroy poor people with inflation.
If we want to make it free, we need to ration it to only the best. I wouldn't mind paying for it at that point.