There are at least four separate problems here:

1. Student debt for college costs

2. The cost of going to college

3. The value of a college degree

4. Systemic acial and economic inequalities in the K-16 system

Each of these topics can be suibdivided: e.g. the value of a degree from a prestigious private college is different from the value of a degree from a proprietary rip-off college. The value of a degree in a major that is likely to lan a job that can pay for the costs of a college degree is different from the value of a dead-end major that may never allow the student to repay the college debt (including the lost opportunity costs).

But 4 is in my mind the first hurdle to address if we're looking at economic justice. K-12 public schools are engineered (in spite of the altruism of teachers) to ensure that ecvonomic minorities won't graduate, or if they do they will be more likely to spend at least a fourth of their college career in developmemtal classes. Until black and Hispanic K-12 students are given an equal opportunity throughout their path through school, then college will become a system that reinforces the privilege of white students. (And I haven't even addressed the inequality of private K-12 schools.)

Free college tuition for all will only solidify wealth inequality until we ensure that ALL K-12 students are given the opportunity to graduate and attend a good college.