Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

A Genuine Free Lunch

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by

Dick Hall-Sizemore
in

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Some people commenting on my recent post regrading the G3 Program for community colleges challenged my characterization of it as being a free community college education for some people. They contended that it really was not free; the student may not have to pay tuition, but the money for the program came from taxpayers. Therefore, it was not free because taxpayers were paying for it. That is a valid argument.

But I am here to tell you that there really is a free state program for some Virginia residents, which I suspect not many people are aware of. If you are at least 60 years old and have lived in Virginia for at least one year, you can take up to three courses per semester in a Virginia institution of higher education and not have to pay any tuition or fees. (Sec. 23.1-639 et seq., Code of Virginia)

Of course, there are some conditions:

  1. You must be accepted by the institution for admission.
  2. You cannot take the course for credit. (This is a bummer if you are  trying to switch careers at this stage of your life and need some courses for certification, but most folks at this age are just looking to take a class or two for personal growth.)
  3. The instructor or department has to approve you. (This is to keep you from taking a high-level physics course for which you are not qualified and thereby wasting everybody’s time by asking basic questions.)
  4.  Regular students, i.e. those paying tuition, have priority. They don’t want you bumping someone who is actually paying for classes.

I need to qualify my claim somewhat. It is not completely free; students are responsible for the cost of any textbooks and any fees related to materials used in class. However, since you would not be getting any credit for the course, you may just attend class and not buy the books.

Although the statute requires colleges and universities to “prominently include in its course catalog a statement of the benefits provided by this article for senior citizens,” colleges do not make it easy to find out about this program. After all, they want paying students. I took a course at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College last fall under this program. In the process of signing up, I searched the college website for information on how to apply under the program. I could not find anything. Only because I knew about the program, I knew to ask someone at the registrar’s office about it and she directed me to the location on the website. I have tried to find it on the VCU and W&M websites and it certainly is not “prominently” displayed. Only by using the “search” feature on the websites and keying in the magic words, “Senior Citizen Higher Education Act,” did I find the information that was needed.

I did run up against one of the conditions. The section of the course that was my first choice was filled and I had to to take the other section. I was told that, if I were a paying student, the department head probably would have waived the capacity limit and allowed me to enroll in it.

So, there it is — a truly free government service. The student does not have to pay for the service and no additional tax payer money is needed to provide it.

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13 responses to “A Genuine Free Lunch”

  1. James Kiser Avatar
    James Kiser

    Nothing in life is free. Everything costs something just because it doesn’t cost you doesn’t mean someone pays a cost. Even the act of breathing isn’t fee.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      You do realize that this is true ONLY if you do not consider the increase in revenue/benefit as a result of making the initial expenditure. The word you’re missing is “investment”.

      If you do not understand this concept, minimize your water expenditure by drinking your bath water.

  2. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    So, Dick, tell us… which class did you enroll in, and did you enjoy it? A lot of readers may wish to follow suit.

  3. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Abby Hoffman explained in “Steal This Book” methods to attend college classes, obviously not for credit, without having to be concerned with even those 4 criteria.

    It was a life hacks book that even had sections on homemade weapons for the anarchist before the beloved “Anarchist’s Cookbook” was published.

  4. Jonathan Wight Avatar
    Jonathan Wight

    Good post! Thanks for the insight.

    Minor technical detail: the class, if taken, is not free in the sense that there is always an opportunity cost–namely, what you could do instead of taking this class. You could make more money at your job or loll on your porch. But you always are giving up something when you take that class, hence, nothing is free in that ultimate sense that time is limited.

  5. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    I like Dicks posts. He often files them late at night and they are ready to read first thing in the morning along with the news AND they are almost NEVER grievance-laden or race-obsessed RANTS!

    But I don’t think ANYthing is really “free”. There is a cost to it and that cost is paid for somehow, by someone. And yes, this from a “progressive”!

    For instance, some folks might argue that it cost taxpayers money to build the classroom and pay the instructor and some folks are paying their fair share with tuition and others not so it’s “free” to them but others pay for it or else it would not be there at all.

    Having said that – I see “free community college” the same way I see “free public school K-12 education” – which we all know the cost of is a major part of most of our property taxes.

    But, we also give seniors tax breaks – and that means others will pay more to cover it just like taxpayers pay more for other taxpayers that use tax expenditures (deductions).

    So we make policy choices that, in theory, while they cost, do provide something of worth in return and it may actually accrue back to the same taxpayers that pay for it and in those cases, some characterize them as “investments” – as we do with education – which most would not argue, can produce taxpayers and higher GDP.

    Now, is “free” community college for geezers an investment or a bennie/freebie/subsidy/etc? Probably more like Medicare and reduced property taxes for seniors… you paid taxes for upteen years, take a break.

  6. Stephen Haner Avatar
    Stephen Haner

    What, give up the Netflix re-runs to sit in a classroom again? Was more attractive when I lived in the city, closer to VCU. To use a line from the film Breaker Morant, with a very different context, a slice off a cut loaf is never missed.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Oooh, ooh. Netflix. I recommend the dark comedy “Kill Me Three Times” with Simon Pegg. If you are a fan of “Passage to Marseille” and the medius res form, it’s well done. It’s not a great movie, but l’ll bet you’ll like it.

      You may have to turn on subtitles and have an Aussie-English dictionary handy, but it’s a fun movie.

  7. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    If anyone wants to quibble whether this is truly free, that’s OK. My main point is that this is a government benefit for a set of Virginia residents that does not cost them anything, aside from maybe buying a book or two, and does not cost the taxpayers anything additional. The class will be held whether or not I am enrolled. The instructor is going to be paid whether or not I take the class. No additional taxpayer funds are required, nor is any additional government expense involved.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      I think it is a GOOD thing, however, even the College recognizes costs because they deny enrollment if the class is “full”. What they are doing is offering a slot IF there is availability that would otherwise not be used but still funds allocated for – like the professor – who is obligated to serve a certain number of enrolled , grading papers, etc…

      I would see it as similar to an airline offering cheaper fares to fill in some unused seats or a retailer marking down items that are excess, etc… all perfectly valid.

      And yes, have seen things given away – like hand sanitizer that I KNOW the store paid dearly for at the height of the pandemic!

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        As a note Larry, one of the last undergraduate courses I taught was a senior level required course in the spring. When I showed up the first night there were 15 seniors begging entrance. Despite warnings from the Dept Chair, I acquiesced.

        Unseen Costs:
        1) we had to steal 5 desks from neighboring rooms,
        2) the ventilation system was overloaded,
        3) it cost ME hours in grading, office, and class time.

        The college made money, lots of money.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          Some costs are already “sunk” and so can be given away or sold for less. Other costs do come out of the hide of the professor and I suspect some professors would deal with paid-tuition grading different than not.

    2. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      I agree with Dick on this one. As long as the individual enrolling in the class is not displacing anyone else, the cost to the higher-ed institution is effectively zero. The institution would have delivered the class regardless, and there is no marginal cost entailed with adding someone that the course was designed to accommodate in the first place.

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