&gt;If you&#x27;re independently wealthy [1] or your family will take care of you, viewing college expenses as an enrichment experience (akin to a trip to Europe) is just fine.<p>On of the goals of the vast public higher education infrastructure that boomed in the 1960s was to bring that enrichment experience to everyone. And it was successful at this - participation in liberal arts majors was quite high until relatively recently.<p>Harpers [0] has an excellent piece on the topic.<p>[0] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;harpers.org&#x2F;archive&#x2F;2015&#x2F;09&#x2F;the-neoliberal-arts&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;harpers.org&#x2F;archive&#x2F;2015&#x2F;09&#x2F;the-neoliberal-arts&#x2F;</a>