Banks Getting Out of the Student Loan Business

This is terrible news, if predictable. I find this point particularly disgraceful:

By splitting out community colleges and less-selective four-year institutions, some remaining lenders seem to be breaking the marketplace into tiers. Students attending elite, expensive, public and private four-year universities can expect loans to remain plentiful. The banks generally say these loans are bigger, more profitable and less risky, in part perhaps because the banks expect the universities’ graduates to earn more.

Yeah, let's makes sure that the people who need loans the most can't get anyway. Way to go, plutocrats!

I have an idea - let's abolish student loans entirely. Rather than forcing people to run up mountains of debt, let's have a system wherein anyone who can get into a public university has their tuition paid by the public. It's a crazy idea to base success on merit, I know. Oh, and where is the money going to come from? How about here?