The issue is prohibitive cost. We have effectively priced ourselves out of quality education through our own ignorance and reflexive disgust at all things funded by taxes.
The reason college tuition is exorbitant, is devise forget got involved in the dumbest way possible. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the idea of wanting college accessible to everyone is wonderful. But the way the government chose to do it is sheer insanity. Government guarantees the loan, and made it not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
So banks will give all the money anyone wants every time they ask for it, because it is risk free to do so. What happens in an environment where the stream of money grows infinitely? The structures supported by that money grow infinitely large.
Well we've reached the breaking point where it's not justifiable to take on the cost of college, compared to the salaries gained at the end from your degree.
By no means am I advocating for financially means testing. That implies looking at families and previous incomes to gage risk. That will leave college for only the rich. That's not a great idea. But the government needs to stop both guaranteeing them and change it so they can be discharged like other debt.
Loans should only be looked at for future earning potential by the banks. In other words: they should only be able to ask what your major is. Engineering, business, nursing, medicine, etc? Yeah those demonstrate real earning potential so sure you will get a loan if you need it ... . But only in line with your future earning potential. Nurses in average make between 75 and 100k. Do they need 150k in loans to get that degree? Probably not. But the doctor or lawyer who has an earning potential much higher probably should get more loans.
You want to major in Eastern Serbian Architecture? Womyns studies? Or any of a million other nearly useless degrees? Have fun funding them yourself.
The net effect is a shrinking pool of resources, which sounds bad ... but it isn't. It will force colleges to be more competitive in how they draw students and how they price themselves in the market.