Although tuition-free colleges exist for a number of reasons, their existence is a reality all the same. The biggest source of funding for free colleges is ridiculously wealthy dead people who decided that their legacy would be ensuring that their wealth would help to educate people who might otherwise not get an education or to help a cherished school or subject matter advance its place in national education. These selfless individuals, sometimes individually and sometimes in conjunction with thousands of other donors, donate enough money that a college can literally operate off the interest that it earns on its endowment. In fact, many people don’t realize that many of the top private colleges in the United States actually would be much more expensive if it weren’t for these sizable endowments helping to lower the costs, even if students still have to pay a sizable amount.

Wealthy donors are no doubt the largest source of funding for private colleges, but many others enjoy partnerships with government organizations or professional organizations that use the college as a training ground for sorely needed professionals in a variety of fields.