Poll: Where do you stand on free tuition to state colleges and universities

[alcibiades_mystery]

24. I support free tuition and fees but Bernie's plan is a bunch of nonsense

I've actually read his bill. It's ridiculous. Fine, even if we believe the funding source. Great. The mechanism of execution is beyond silly, relying on states not only to apply, but to put up 1/3 of the expenditure, over and above what they already pay. Moreover, the long-term goal of avoiding state disparities (i.e., raising the cost in X state to draw more federal money) is dealt with by setting tuition costs to the national per student instruction median, regardless of state participation! In other words, if you live in a state that more generously subsidizes instruction, that state will have to reduce its contribution in order to reach a national median, or increase its contribution to offset the reduction in the federal contribution! The bill actually punishes states that are doing the right thing, regardless of contribution by the many states with Republican governors and state houses that won't participate. And if you think they will be forced to participate via brain drain, bzzzzzt, think again: the program only applies for in-state tuition! How will states hold down costs? Definitely not through faculty salaries (Thank goodness!): states will have to show that 75% of credit hours are covered by tenure-line faculty. This will actually result in massive cuts to liberal arts programs, which Deans and Provosts will simply shutter rather than comply with BOTH a cost reduction and a salary/benefits increase. Fine, you say. Liberal arts are bullshit, STEM forever! But not just liberal arts: you will not be able to staff basic science and math classes, and language, too.

It is a plan written by people with little understanding of the day-to-day challenges of higher education in the United States. Wait...I can feel the response coming: Administrative bloat! Luxury dorms! If those are your answers, go check out a spreadsheet for an actual college or university. I assure you that you will stop spouting platitudes if you read that spreadsheet honestly.