Bernie Sanders swept through the Democratic primaries with a lot more power than a lot of people expected. From the beginning, it looked like Hillary was going to be it--but Bernie's poll numbers kept increasing, and Clinton's kept decreasing. This was in part because Clinton is under review for sending classified emails on her personal server while she was Secretary of State - but a large part is also due to Bernie's success among millennials, most notably college students.

Bernie polls so well because of his seemingly good character, his vow to fight corruption and corporate dominance in Washington, and the crowning jewel of his platform, his promise to provide free college education at public colleges and universities.

Free public tuition is what roped in lots of millennial college kids, the key demographic that is driving his campaign forward.

This is what his campaign website says about his plan:

Finland, Norway, Sweden and many other countries around the world also offer free college to all of their citizens. If other countries can take this action, so can the United States of America. In fact, it’s what many of our colleges and universities used to do. The University of California system offered free tuition at its schools until the 1980s. In 1965, average tuition at a four-year public university was just $243 and many of the best colleges – including the City University of New York – did not charge any tuition at all. The Sanders plan would make tuition free at public colleges and universities throughout the country.
Read about the rest of Bernie's Plan here.

Sanders plans to pay for this free tuition by taxing Wall Street speculations by half a cent each. An innovative idea that may actually work under the right circumstances - but my issue is not with whether or not his plan will work, but what the outcome of his plan will do.

How much do you value your high school diploma?

While an important step in achieving education, the high school diploma used to be the end all for many in higher education--a diploma was all people needed to achieve to be productive, well-educated members of society. Tuition was low (and virtually nonexistent) because there was much less demand for a college education then as opposed to now. The few that went on to college were devoted purely to academia--in a lot of fields, a college education helped quite a bit but wasn’t as crucial as it is today for employment.

The demand for a college education is so high that making it free in public universities will make it just like how high school is now--a step that can’t be skipped in education, but a step that is essentially meaningless in and of itself. That’s the case with any product or service that is popular and plentiful. Anybody in the past who paid for their public education will see the value of their degrees decreased--it will be a waste of money for anybody in college right now, if future generations receive a free college education. And yet, these same college students are the ones supporting Bernie.

One of two things will happen to private colleges and universities if public education becomes free, often depending on the institution. Some private schools, unable to compete with the free education public universities will be offering, may fade out of existence. Others may market themselves as a higher form of college education (a strategy many private schools already employ). This could create an even sharper hierarchy of education than already exists between state and private schools, and put the price of a highly reputable education even higher.

This is of course highly hypothetical. Everything may turn out fine by this policy. But I as a college student don’t want the money I’m spending on my education now to go to waste if future degrees are handed out to anybody and everybody. Furthermore, I worry that many small private institutions (including my alma mater) will cease to exist if they can’t compete with state education, limiting college options and further decreasing the value of degrees for graduates from these types of institutions.

Bernie Sanders may not be the best option for the very people clamoring for his nomination.