I think everybody benefits from more education. And public higher education should be a cornerstone of a developed country. But sadly it appears that the USA does not agree.

I don't think it's fair to say that. We have a highly partisan divide right now that causes crippling inaction on some of our biggest problems (including the cost of education), but if you removed that partisan political framing and nailed down most American on the issue directly, I think you'd get an opinion that is in-line with what you said.

America's problem is that we treat our political parties like our favorite sports team, and the parties themselves react accordingly favoring electoral dominance over policy achievements. Case: health-care -- polling shows that most Americans are in favor of the sort of things that the Affordable Care Act basically accomplishes (universal coverage, everybody pays something, subsidization for poorer people). When it's framed as Obamacare or a Democratic Party program, the numbers change to reflect the partisan divide.

It's still stupid, but it's not the same thing as not wanting it.