Bernie Sanders’ Free Education Program Would Actually Save Federal Taxpayers

President hopeful Bernie Sanders has wooed the hearts of young progressives throughout the United States. One of his biggest promises is offering college education freely available to everyone.  Of course, conservatives and libertarians have openly protested this idea. They argue that it would be prohibitively expensive, but if they gave up their longstanding tradition of ignoring facts, then they would find the opposite.

Federally Funded Education at a Lower Cost

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, American colleges collect just under $70 billion a year in tuition. Sanders’ “College For All” bill would require the federal government to fund two thirds of the cost and let the state pick up the remainder. His plan assumes that the cost of education wouldn’t change after the new plan goes into effect.

So what this essentially means is that federal taxpayers would have to pay $47 billion in taxes to fund college education for students throughout the country. Before conservatives start moaning about the cost, they should realize that they are already paying nearly $70 billion in student aid for low-income college students. Under the new program, they would actually be paying less than before.

The caveat is that the remaining$23 billion for college education would fall on the states. States already have mechanisms in place to fund education, so this wouldn’t be a burden for the states either.

How the Sanders Proposal Would Eventually Save Taxpayers

Sanders plan would also give greater control of education institutions to the federal government. It would place limits on faculty salaries and other costs.

This is a serious issue, because many colleges waste an inordinate amount of money on unnecessary spending. According to research from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, the United States spends more per capita than any other country in the world except Korea.

Is this because we have a superior college education system? Not at all. Our students are lagging those in other developed nations around the world. State colleges are simply allowed to spend a lot of money on nonsensical  programs, which cost both state and federal taxpayers.

Bernie Sanders feels that those costs need to be closely monitored. If his “College for All” bill went through, then a large amount of wasteful spending would be eliminated, which would eventually save taxpayers a substantial amount of money.

Maybe it’s time that conservatives stand by their principles of saving the taxpayers, even if it means supporting a “socialist.”