There was a time when university failure rates were such a big concern that the college administrations and governments started pushing for easing of syllabus and marking scheme, and lowering the bar, wherever possible, to make as many students pass as possible. A few years down the line, university failure rates are back to the same levels and the quality of education and students is so low that even those who are able to pass, are good for nothing. Another remarkable achievement for the inclusive and free education touting left, who take pride in calling themselves the science guys.
Education shouldn't be paid for, by the public. Companies like Ford and General Motors also contribute a lot to the GDP. Does that mean that public should bear all the costs of production? Why should people be paying for other's education simply because they assume that the end product is going to add to the GDP? The correct way to acquire funding to earn it, and not to use the government to confiscate somebody else's wealth as taxes and then give it to you, even if those people aren't willing to pay, because that is the equivalent of robbery. Besides, since the colleges aren't paid for, by their customers (students), they don't have any incentive to make sure that their customers are satisfied. Instead, they consider themselves to be feudal lords and demand the customers (students) please them instead.
The solution to all of this is the abolition of public universities. Students who see a benefit in attending colleges should be the only ones attending (this is what demand based actually means) and they should pay for it in full. If the costs are too high and there's a demand for cheap and focused education, specialised online training platforms and bootcamps will start popping up automatically. Right now, it doesn't make much sense because of public funding of useless universities that are still looked up to, by employers for absolutely no reason.