I don’t have the time to do another deep dive of your latest, but will point out a few things. First, I did not say $22k/year for community college, but rather for UMD College Park. Second, I didn’t say that the average debt is $100k or anything near that. Third, I didn’t say that college *should* take five years, merely that fewer than half of students graduate in 4 years in many/most/nearly all universities. You can claim this is the result of today’s youth being lazy and entitled, but I’d point out that when most people of any generation are failing at something, the problem is not with the latest specimens of humanity, but rather with how the previous generation raised them and the how we allowed society to develop.

Having said all that, I completely agree that it is possible to finish a degree in 4 years. I personally finished a double major in math and physics in 3 years. However, the fact that most don’t says something that we’d do well to not ignore. Perhaps if universities and colleges would be forced to either graduate or cut loose students at the end of their 4th year (except for extreme cases where external circumstances prevented it), we’d take away universities’ financial incentive to allow “eternal students” and force thos e universities to face a customer base that takes a long hard look at what their true graduation rate is before agreeing to pay exorbitant tuition.

If we could find a reasonable way to pay as a society for people to go to college, I’d be ok with your plan. I just haven’t yet seen the numbers that support it.