The Push to Make College more Equitable

“Unfortunately, today only 30 percent of low-income students enroll in college right after high school and, far worse, by their mid-20s only 9 percent earn a bachelor’s degree … There is this huge cohort of talent that we’re not tapping.” 
Recently the White House is attempting to increase access to upper-level education for lower-income students - (read the White House's report here). Universities and foundations responded with commitments to open academia's ivory gates (here). 
The problem is that a nice soft cozy chat by the president and a cheerful response from the sector does little to address the issue. Universities and colleges are places of class segregation in America, just as public schools begin segregating children at an early age. The solution isn't more ice cream floats and milk shakes. Instead, how about - 

• near free university and college for all students (as in Germany)
• guaranteed grants to students to pay for college (rather than loans and debt)

We could ask (non-GI) students to pay for their tertiary education by committing up to two years of public service. This would mean a beefed up Americorp or Peace corp. And no one could buy their way out of the public service. Public service could include working in inner cities, building infrastructure, serving in K-12 "poor performing" schools, etc.