[RandomOpinion]

>Because, like it or not, the majority of people's education is the means to obtain a job in a related field.

The community college system is more than enough for those who view postsecondary education as a mere vocational program and doesn't require going "tens of thousands of dollars into debt".

[chestervonwinch]

Yes. There are financial incentives to go to community college, but if people made their decisions based solely on these, then no one would attend universities.

I'm not arguing for the status quo, but let's be honest about the current state of higher education in America: a ton of people have too much debt because of the pressure to attend a 4 year university. This pressure is usually of the form, "good education => good job". Moreover, "good" is often conflated with "expensive" or "prestigious" with regards to education, and conflated with "high-paying" with regards to a job.

[pmoriarty]

Also, this depends on which country you're talking about. University education in some countries is free. It's also possible to get scholarships which subsidize some or even all of your tuition. Finally, there's often financial aid of various types, from need-based to aid to certain minorities, etc.

[PirateDave]

It looks like in Los Angeles this could become a reality soon. At least for a year: http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-edu-garcetti-co...