Californicating With Itself

I went home for lunch and turned on FoxNews and watched reports on two separate, totally unrelated stories.

The first was on the recent California court ruling that illegals in that state are eligible for in-state tuition. California isn’t alone in this – you might be surprised to know that Texas offers the same benefit. Incredulous, I asked myself, “Self, what is the point of in-state tuition? Why give someone a discount just for being a resident?” Universities know that the cost structure for educating some number of students is relatively unaffected by providing education for that number plus 1. Higher education institutions, despite claims to the contrary by professors and administrators who say they are “overworked”, can absorb many more students than are enrolled. The game they play is to extract as much tuition as possible and also as much state subsidy as possible, and encouraging in-state tuition for illegals accomplishes both. The bottom line is that illegal immigrants are good for the business of education.

The problem comes when the professors and administrators who complain about being “overworked” convince enough of the Regents or legislators, depending on the funding source, that they need either more teachers, more administrators, or more infrastructure and buildings to meet the greater demand for education posed by the exploding population of illegal immigrants.

Which leads me to the second story.

Students in California are rioting over proposed 8% college tuition and fee increases in their state.

I wonder how many of them voted Democrat two weeks ago. Do you think they understand cause and effect? Just wait until Jerry Brown gets his hooks into things.