Public colleges should be fully funded by the government

First time debater here, not really sure on the rules, so sorry if I say or do something out of line. As reported by collegeboard.com, in 2010 the average cost of going to school for a year is as follows. Public University (4 years): $27,967 (per year) Private University (4 years): $40,476 (per year) This adds up to a total of (4 years) Public University: $111,868 Private University: $161,904 Another statistic you must look at is that http://www.usatoday.com... Tells us that 53% of students, another statistic I saw says 57% of students take 6 years to graduate college. I think it is fair to say the number would be even higher if it was free, and you could take your time. http://www.finaid.org... Here you can see that the average cost of tuition increases by 8% per year. The number 111,864 is due a 4 year plan with a steady cost of tuition. The average tuition is roughly $7,700 So the average cost of living is ~$20,000 then $7,700 for tuition. So if we count the addition of 8% tuition each year, not to mention this statistic is already a few years old so the number is already higher. This was done using a calculator and obviously I cannot read the future it is simply a prediction. Year 1 $7,700 Year 2 $8,316 Year 3 $8,981.28 Year 4 $9699.78 ~Year 5 $10475.76 ~Year 6 $11313.83 Now assuming that 55% of students take 6 years you are looking at 20,000 a year + The cost of tuition for 6 years, this is also not including inflation and the increase in the Consumer Price Index, so the numbers would be even higher. You get ~ 20,000 * 6 + the cost of tuition = $176,487 for a 6 year program ~ 20,000 * 4 + the cost of tuition = $114,697 for a 4 year program Under the realization there is a lot more to it, I believe that as much as I may have overestimated or valued the prices, it is also possible that they are undervalued, and without calculating inflation or the CPI, I believe it is a fair estimate to base a initial argument off of. The next topic is the efficiency of public funding http://articles.latimes.com... This article goes to say that billions of dollars of public funding are spent each year on students who drop out. This is billions of wasted dollars on someone who never graduated, took the money and ran, if you would. If all of college was paid for this number would increase more and more. The reason that colleges cost so much is because there is no public funding, the burden of cost is put on the student because it cant be supported by the state. http://nces.ed.gov... 66% of students receive an average of $9,100 in financial aid. 52% of students receive grants averaging $4,900. This is in 2007-2008 So already we can see that the cost of college is rising due to a lack of public funding. Public funding already pays $9,100 a student for 66% of students, with much more in grants to 52% of students. There is no more money to give out. If college was free there would be an immediate influx of students, so many you would most likely need to increase the number of colleges, which now costs billions in new colleges, and billions in all the new free-ride students. From the US Census Bureau, the median salary of an individual who has only a high school diploma is $27,967; The median salary of an individual who has a bachelor's degree is $47,345 The tax bracket in 2012 puts $27,967 in the 15 range, and $47,345 in the 25% range. The high-school diploma yields 4195.05 in income taxes. The college diploma yields 11836.25 in income taxes. That is $7641.20 more from a college graduate than a high-school graduate. Assuming a average cost (4-6 years) of college, you are looking at ~$150,000 per student. It will take 20 years in taxes for the student to pay back his debt to society. I am out of space and will follow up ASAP.