The crisis of affordability in higher education is intensifying. Illustrations of its resonance abound: from the frequent news articles describing and amplifying the crisis and its sources to legislators' and candidates' proposed responses. Republicans' responses tend to be mainly punitive toward institutions; Democrats' proposals are more complicated and expensive than they need to be, and less capable of garnering broad support from the American people. In this article, the authors propose what they see as a clear, simple, and direct way to have a significant impact on this crisis of access. It begins from the assumption that higher education should be available as a right in public colleges for all applicants who meet admissions standards regardless of ability to pay. To make it so, the authors propose that the federal government should pay tuition and fees for all students, part and full time, who are enrolled in two-and four year public institutions in the United States. (Eighty three percent of undergraduates now attend public institutions.) The authors contribute to the debate that present financial aid policies are widening the gap between educational haves and have-nots. They believe free tuition will reverse this trend, and suggest closing corporate tax loopholes, eliminating some tax cuts to the very wealthy, or taking a slice from the $400 billion defense budget as possible ways to finance free higher education.