So he’s going to a state school to get a free ride?
God help us if everyone decides to do the same—Mr. Taxpayer’s back might finally be broken under that load!
State colleges, like any other college, only have so many full scholarships to hand out. I was offered a full scholarship by a state school back in the day and turned it down (for reasons that seemed smart at the time, in retrospect I was an idiot). My much smarter brother (with better grades, SAT scores, achievements) came along a couple years later and wasn’t offered jack-squat by the same school, because as luck would have it the number of high-achievers (and probably minorities) accepted that year was higher and he didn’t make the cutoff.
With his educational accomplishments, he should qualify for MERIT-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS that would cover full tuition, room, and board. While that may be construed as a "free ride" these scholarships are typically funded by donations and endowments rather than tax funding. Basing the decision on availability of scholarships to cover the cost of the education rather than going into debt is a very responsible and intelligent decision.