Cheap still isn't free. The idea of college, at least in its current incarnation, is inherently non-free. Also, college during the high school years, lessening the amount of "normal" schooling, leaves the formative years usually spent at college totally free. This can be good, but it can also be very bad; many people don't "find themselves" until those years.
Presumably "better colleges" would include, among other things, better and cheaper state schools.