I think the idea of setting time aside in your youthful life where you invest in yourself and expand your horizons is a powerful one. It makes the world a more interesting place and pushes human achievement. To what extent a university helps for this might be debatable and will depend on the person and the university, but I wonder if an average person would earmark 4 years of their life to learning and improvement left completely to their own.
edit: just re-read your comment, and I realise you're not necessarily taking sides and merely speculating if the average person can get by without the investment into college. I agree so strongly I would upvote you twice.
If only US society actually did provide four years of education and living expenses, then patio11 would be correct. Sure, such offers exist but only if you're poor. Or are the valedictorian. Average Joe gets no free ride for four years.
He meant a social subsidy, as opposed to monetary. Basically, you aren't too strait-jacketed as a student, the world is your oyster, you can try out lots of different things, etc.
That's a plausible interpretation of patio11's comment. I, however, think it's a bit of a stretch given the language of the comment. Perhaps it was his intent to say what you interpreted, but I'm inclined to disagree.
