You are right that every situation is different but at what point do we stop accounting for everyone's choices? No offense to your friend but is it my problem that your friend decided to have a kid and get married while still wanting to further his education? I know it may sound mean spirited but it just isn't a decision I made for him.
I'm not saying that he isn't responsible for his own actions, but he couldn't afford grad school regardless, he doesn't come from a wealthy family or anything like that, he was barely able to afford getting his undergraduate degree let alone go further than that. I just think it's a shame that someone as smart as he is is priced out of an education, one that could very well benefit the United States, or even the world remotely. Just think of all the brilliant minds that can't research Cancer, or discover new particles, or develop faster and cheaper ways to travel through space because they can't afford higher education? I think that's a shame, and that's not something that should be considered acceptable in my opinion. That doesn't mean lower the standards so everyone can go to school or anything like that, but there needs to be better ways to get those who want the ability to continue their education. Scholarships and grants can be difficult to come by as well, I'm having issues securing them (although plenty of people want to give me loans with high interest rates), but good news because my children will get plenty of them. My purple heart gives my kids a scholarship, being Irish gives my kids a scholarship... I apparently can piss off however.
I am lucky enough that by teaching and doing research with my school, my education is far cheaper than it would be without. The problem is that I still have to work full time to afford a place to live, which I need my girlfriend to work nearly full time as well. The result it I work 40 hours a week and then do an additional 60 hours a week between teaching, my own classes, and research. Then I come home and have to make sure I have lesson plans ready, making sure I answer all my e-mails, grading exams, etc. It's very taxing, and not something I would expect most people to be able to do. If not for my military service I don't think I'd have the self discipline to do it.
However a lot of students don't get the chance to teach or do research though, or are in fields (law, medicine, etc) that don't typically have those opportunities.
I don't think society needs to pay for the education, but we can make it more affordable.
Take UCLA for example, in 1975 the cost to attend the school was $2,675 according to their general catalog for that year. If we were to adjust for inflation that equals about 11,865.. Say we round it up to $13,000 because they have more expenses. Or even $15,000... Still a pretty penny.
Except that UCLA costs $33,898 a year. For what exactly? Shit, I have better TP in Afghanistan than I do at UCLA, and most of the damn classrooms still have chalkboards. UCLA is a public university, yet the majority of Americans are priced out of it right off the bat.. Hell if you're not a CA resident it costs $58,606 to attend UCLA, and 73% of Americans earn less than 50K a year.
There's no need for UCLA to cost that much, yet they're raising tuition even more. That doesn't mean we need to make other people pay for it, but we need to reign in how much these schools cost to attend.
In terms to the get a roommate bit, there's people who have a wife or husband who dies suddenly (maybe they get sick and go bankrupt from medical bills, maybe they get hit by a drunk driver or something) and they're left alone with children trying to figure things out. It's going to be hard for them to find someone to room with them, yet they need to in order to get by. Unfortunately while there are business owners like yourself who do pay a fair wage, there are others who don't. Hell my owners are one of them, they pay minimum wage and we're working with firearms all day. I fought for my raise and finally got enough of one to stay there, but our owners can easily afford to pay us more and don't want to. They know it too, my owner accidentally blurted out during my raise negotiations "I know I should pay you guys more, but I just like having more money" They cleared 18 million last year after payroll and expenses, they make a fuck ton of money, and don't want to pay guys more than 9 dollars and hour.
Anyway looks like this thread is crossing the line, so that's probably it anyway.
I'm not for just simply giving out handouts or free college, but I'm against pricing out smart people so we can afford to spend 4 million a year for a coach or something like that, and I'm against just telling people "too bad" when 40 hours a week doesn't give them enough money to live and they don't have options.