Pragmatic Leftist Theory
The neolibs are too far right. The tankies are doing whatever that is. Where's the space for the people who want fully-automated-luxury-gay-space-communism, but realize that it's gonna take a while and there are lots of steps between now and then? Here. This is that space.
Here, people should endeavor to discuss and devise practical, actionable leftist action. Vote lesser evil while you build grassroots coalitions. Unionize your workplace. Participate in SRAs. Build cohesion your local community. Educate the proletariat.
This is a place for practical people to develop practical plans to implement stable, incremental improvement.
If you're dead-set on drumming up all 18,453 True Leftists® into spontaneous Revolution, go somewhere else. The grown ups are talking.
Rules:
-1. Don't be a dick. Racism, sexism, other assorted bigotries, you know the drill. At least try to default to mutually respectful discussion. We're all on the same side here, unless you aren't, in which case kindly leave.
-2. Don't be a tankie. Yes I'm sure you have an extensive knowledge of century-old theory. There's been a century of history since then. Things didn't shake out as expected, maybe consider the possibility that a different angle of attack might be more effective in light of new data.
-3. Be practical. No one on the left benefits from counterproductive actions. This is a space informed by, not enslaved to, ideology. Promoting actions that are fundamentally untenable in the system in question, because they fulfill a sense of ideological purity, is a bad look. Don't do that.
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The government paying for higher ed would be an absolute disaster. Right now the federal government is trying to withhold funding to pressure universities into spreading their ideological drek. If they also were paying tuition they would have even more power and influence to promote their poisonous world view.
The problem though will somewhat sort itself out in the not too distant future. Right now there aren't enough jobs for graduates and the costs are astronomical. Theoretically that will lead to falling enrollment rates which should bring costs back down. That or drive them up further as universities try to maintain profits with fewer students and turn education into more of a class issue than it already is. In either case the way our economy/society is shifting from knowledge work to physical labor will devalue 4 year programs in favor of trade certifications and shorter degrees.
There are several ways that might look. One might be professional degrees that only require course work directly related to a field of study rather than the more holistic approach we have now. Certifications from testing might also become more prevalent in some fields, especially tech. Another possible outcome would be increased value in the Associate's degree. It's mostly worthless today outside of some niche fields, but there is no reason a four year degree is needed for 90% of office work.
Really it will depend on the employers. Right now a bachelor's degree is the gold standard because most cognitive labor employers demand one. Without major reforms to how employers hire we'll be stuck with what we have now. If anything, based on how high the unemployment rate is for recent grads and people with less than 10 years of experience is the trend for employers to demand more education will only get worse. Right now entry level and mid level jobs are in short supply and receive hundreds if not thousands of applicants, so employers are tightening their requirements to filter the results more.
And that doesn't even touch on the problems AI creates. Students are using it to do course work, effectively nullifying the educational value of a degree. Employers are using it to filter applicants creating a cascading problem where applicants are filtered out by AI then use AI to massage their resume, which the employers AI then detects, and so on.
Breaking higher ed's monopoly on job qualifications is a great idea, I fear the people who could make that happen, employers, hold all the cards for now and there is little incentive for them to change.
Another idea would be to include student debt in bankruptcy. The problem is that we are generating a generation of slaves who will never pay their college debt, so it is the student that bears all the cost for the lies and cost overruns of the institution.
If--and I think Obama started to do this--colleges would not get their money, or banks would not get their money, there would be insituted more rigor into the loan application process built entirely around the probablility that the student would be able to make enough money to pay it back. How many of those loans would be issued today?
We'll see how the enrollment drop shakes out; I think you're right, the main effect will be a more stratified society as only people with cash will be able to get a higher education that will give them access to higher paying jobs.
I don't think things will go as smoothly as you think. Society is toxically positive and children are very suggestible. We give children who are not old enough to drink the power to take on life-changing debt. "What do I want to do for work?" is a hard question to answer when you have no demonstrable skills and no job experience, making college an attractive option for people without family connections in the trades.
I'd also add that the federal government DOES subsidize education to a high degree, and perhaps as much as it does so is how much it contributes to the theft of alumni.