Feeling the Bern? You might want to check with a doctor to see if you’re in the right state of mind to vote in this year’s presidential election. If Bernie’s messy hair and deep scratchy voice don’t scare you enough, maybe hearing about his policies will do the job. One of this year’s Democratic Presidential Candidates, Bernie Sanders, has great intentions, but he is empty when it comes to logical ways to enact his policies.
One of his great ideas that has drawn in so many young supporters is his idea of free college. As Americans, we all think that the best stuff is free stuff and the best education is free education. However, the best ideas often turn out to be the worst ideas in the end. This could not be more true about Bernie Sanders. With the large size and large cost to attend universities in America there is no logical way to make a public college like Penn State University free. The operating budget for Penn State for the 2015-2016 school year is 4.9 billion dollars. How in the world are you going to get that kind of money, Bernie? And may I add that Penn State is only one of the dozens of public colleges in Pennsylvania. A few to be named, among many others, are Temple, Slippery Rock, Edinboro, and Clarion. That is a lot of colleges to pay for. Bernie’s vague solution to this policy is to tax Wall Street. I’m not sure about you, but I feel like this plan will back fire and the taxpayers will be paying the highest taxes America has ever seen.
Bernie also mentions refinancing and government assistance to help pay for student loan debts. If people were really smart, they would go somewhere in-state or go to a college where they can go the cheapest for their major. Many students nowadays feel as if they have to move and go to a big college for the true “college experience.” I want to add that I do feel sorry for those who are burdened by student loan debt. But my advice for young people nowadays is to go somewhere cheap! It’s not bad to get an undergraduate degree from a smaller college! Go to the college most cost-efficient for you and make the most of it. Then you won’t have to worry so much about being weighed down by student loans.