England, which used to provide tuition-free public universities, switched to a tuition system in 1998, and has raised fees several times since then. Economists Gill Wyness, Richard Murphy and Judith Scott-Clayton studied the impact of getting rid of free college. What they found might prove a shock to Sanders supporters: ‘The analysis shows that since the move from a free higher education system to a high-fee, high-aid system, university enrolment has increased substantially, with students from the poorest backgrounds experiencing the fastest increases in participation. Moreover, university funding per head has recovered dramatically since the introduction of fees.’

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