Umm... you realize that shit needs to be paid for _somehow_, right?
Having a larger more educated workforce should pay off in the long run. If the costs are insanely high like current private college costs then maybe you're right though.
The benefits to the community of having a higher educated population are something like 5x the tuition fees. Just the tax rake from higher educated professionals more than pays for free tuition a number of times over.
But this isnt an economic argument - its about how can we ensure that we can continue to have a lower class to do all the dirty and dangerous work. I sure as hell dont want to do it. We cant have people getting ideas above their station.