Bernie Sanders Is Bad For American Students

Bernie Sanders used the "free college" talking point to win millennial votes. Millennial voters have been scammed by a con-artist. "Free college" doesn't work and it will not work in America. Hypothetically, if we were able to give out "free college," it would completely destroy the point of a college degree. "Free college" would destroy the future of America and destroy the present America. Here's a couple things to think about next time you hear someone like Bernie Sanders promise "free college."

First, America can't afford free college. The tax rates in America are already high according to the IRS Statistics of Income. It shows that the average tax rate for Americans is 13.9 percent of income and while that doesn't seem high when you consider the average tax liability is over $9,000, let's say hypothetically we were able to work free college into our tax system. After the four or so free years of higher education, you yourself will spend almost a quarter of your income paying for someone else's education. Not to mention, the price for college will go up because the college has no incentive to slash prices like it did in the private sector because there is no longer any competition, therefore quality of education decreases while prices increase.

Secondly, let's say again hypothetically we can make free college happen. The value of a college degree is decreasing in value in the eyes of employers. The point of a college degree is to get a job and to get a job you must show how valuable you are, how much value you add to the company. The degree is to set you above everyone else, but if you have the same degree as all the other applicants, your degree doesn't mean as much, and you become no different than anyone else. Then we enter into a never ending loop of needing a more valuable degree which now means higher taxes to afford more free college.

Thirdly, there's already a way to get free college. You can join the military or win a scholarship(s). If you can't do it that way then you can go the Dave Ramsey way by paying for school in cash, work for your tuition, or take out a loan. If you can help it, don't take a loan and especially don't take a loan out for a degree that won't get you a good paying job. Of course, this route means no free college but I'd argue you'll value the education more because you paid for it.

Lastly, the reason college is already so expensive is because of government intervention. By allowing the government to fund higher education, you've taken away any incentive for the college to slash prices, because as I said earlier, they have no incentive to be more affordable if they aren't competing for your dollar. If we cut the government out of higher education, I can guarantee you that the price of tuition will go down. You'll finally be able to afford a parking pass, and campus living will finally be reasonable. By privatizing higher education, colleges will be incentivized to make campus more affordable because they can't fall back on the government for assistance when they don't recruit enough students.

So if millennials support free or cheaper college, they should stand with Libertarians and not Socialists. Libertarians advocate for less government while Socialists support more government. More government means more expensive tuition, while less government means cheaper tuition.