Free college tuition. This is the current cry of the left, of Bernie Sanders and the Socialist Democrats running for office today.
BEWARE. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. And, there’s no such thing as “free” college tuition.
A college’s annual budget is made up of building maintenance, equipment and its maintenance (food service, HVAC, computers, etc), grounds maintenance, landscaping, paving, administrative staff salaries, professor salaries, security salaries, maintenance personnel salaries, employee benefits, insurance costs, air conditioning, heating, lighting, and more. And, this doesn’t include costs of new buildings, investments in current technologies, or meals.
Will the professors teach for reduced salaries or for free? Will the electric and gas companies waive their charges? Will landscapers mow lawns for free, or will the college call for volunteers to do this work? Will computer companies give away their technologies for free? Of course not.
None of these costs will change. So the college that had a budget of $30 million in expenses will still have a budget of $30 million in expenses. What will change is the number of people paying that $30 million.
The math is simple: 2,000 students supporting a $30 million budget means each student needs to pay $15,000. But, when only 1,000 students pay for that same $30 million budget, those who do pay, pay double: $30,000 per student.
This is forcing those who can afford it to pay more for the same commodity that others then get for free. In other words, as written by Communist Karl Marx, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
This is communism, pure and simple. A vote for any proponent of “free” college tuition (actually, of “free” anything) is a vote to change America from a capitalist nation to a communist nation. Remember that when you vote for a candidate who supports free stuff. It’s that simple.