In the News this Week: No Tuition

Library Material on Trending News. Get the Facts!

Raise your hand if you have student loan debt! I graduated with my bachelor’s degree 12 years ago. If I had not been fortunate enough to pay them off because of a real estate sale, I would still be paying on them.

This article discusses an outside-the-box concept of college tuition. The idea is called an Income Share Agreement, or I.S.A. This program allows students to go to college “free.” Here is the caveat: once the student gets a job, which has to have a decent salary, they must re-pay their alma mater 17% of their newly acquired salary. If the student does not get a job with a decent salary, then they do not have to pay anything.

Supporters say this incentivizes schools to successfully teach skills and help with job placement. They claim schools these days are paid up front, so what do they care if the student successfully graduates? However on the other end, students who are looking to major in more obscure subject matter (underwater basket weaving), schools may not allow them to enroll. If the institution knows they will not be paid back, then why accept the student?

What is your opinion? Check out our resources showing data on the burden of student loans.

No Tuition, but You Pay a Percentage of Your Income

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Electronic Government Document