Alternative could also be “government obfuscates prices for education and certain types of labor by offering nebulous benefit, the cost of which can be subject to much manipulation for purposes of presenting it as a low cost benefit”.

It would be straight forward to simply pay for higher education expenses directly, with much less bureaucracy and more transparent pricing, allowing for better allocation of society’s resources. But, as always, that would reduce the avenues for corruption, and so the politically viable option is the circuitous option.

This is the Cal system before Reagan basically. Generated more than a few Nobels in addition to the educational mission.

California state university tuition was heavily subsidized by taxpayers 50 years ago. It’s less subsidized today and it’s still over 50% taxpayer funding. That feels like the opposite of transparent pricing.