The Patriot Post® · That’s No Way to Run a College — Or the Nation

Burlington College is being shuttered years after falling into financial ruin. The school blames the “crushing weight of debt” stemming from an ill-advised 2010 land deal for the closure, according to the Burlington Free Press, which notes that around 30 school employees will be without a job come May 27.

The fate of the 44-year-old school was cemented during the tenure of Jane Sanders, who headed the school from 2004 to 2011. Jane, of course, is the wife of senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. The Free Press says the current administration “declined to criticize Sanders,” but a 32-acre land acquisition under her leadership preempted the closure:

“[Dean of Operations and Advancement Coralee] Holm suggested the college’s plan to pay for the waterfront campus was unachievable. ‘I believe the vision was enrollment would grow, which it did, but not at the level that would have allowed us to manage the financial debt we had incurred,’ Holm said. ‘So here we are.’”

On his campaign website, Senator Sanders advocates tuition-free higher education: “The Sanders plan would make tuition free at public colleges and universities throughout the country.” What’s happening at Burlington College courtesy of Mrs. Sanders’ failed leadership is exactly what would happen to America under a Sanders administration, only on a much larger scale. As American Thinker’s Thomas Lifson put it, “Burlington College is simply running out of other people’s money.” Ironically, Jane Sanders gave us a firsthand account of why socialism — and her husband’s entire platform — doesn’t work.