“Public, four-year colleges (possibly because of the restraints of taxpayer financing or larger student bodies) have not made the same effort to reduce the financial burden of higher education for low- to middle-income families.”

I don’t know what planet my colleague is from, but if he honestly thinks that public university tuition isn’t heavily subsidized by taxpayers already then he has spent way too many years in the ivory halls of Washington University.

A college education is just about the safest investment one can make. It essentially guarantees that you’ll recoup your initial costs through higher lifetime earnings.

Nick’s argument would be equivalent to claiming that Fannie Mae hasn’t done enough for middle-class home owners because it hasn’t "given away homes for free."