Knowledge is free, education is not. Knowledge is needed at most jobs, education in all honesty is not. I think its time for society to realize this.
I totally agree. I've heard lots of people tell me, and I'm becoming convinced, that a traditional college education is simply not the right choice for many people. Although US high schools suck, if they didn't find the initiative to learn something there, why should the public front the money for a few more years of irresponsibility? Chances are pretty good that they'll go just because they can get a loan and all their friends are going, and thus merely delay the inevitability of getting a job they don't need a college degree for.
An interesting anecdote. When I was taking the senior year undergrad class for my major, the professor gave hard tests. After the second test, he basically told us that those who got below a certain score were probably in the wrong major. Students complained and the professor had to apologize later, but I think he had a good point... the department had financial incentives to get as many butts in seats as they could, which in the long run probably hurt some of them.
On the other hand, if you're studying something that's actually valuable for the economy and you get good grades, I've found that funds tend to become available...