University of California students have created a group and investment proposal, FixUC, which proposes that students pay off their tuition with their future income after they graduate.
The group originated from the editorial board of the UC Riverside student newspaper.
According to the FixUC website, students would pay off their debt with a deduction of 5 percent of their future income for 20 years of employment.
Under the plan, students would not pay loans and would not have to pay an interest rate.
Mary Stephens, vice president of administration and finance at Cal State Long Beach, said she isn’t sure that the idea would be successful.
Stephens said the university would have to make sure they could bring in enough revenue on a regular basis to cover all the expenses.
“My concern would be simply covering our expenses on an annual basis,” Stephens said.
President F. King Alexander said that aspects from the FixUC proposal have been pursued.
Alexander said the Income Contingent Repayment plan allows students to pay back their loans for a period of time.
He explained that this concept has been around since 1970, and Obama adopted a variation of the concept in the last three years.
“What currently exists is a 10 percent limit, so you only have to pay 10 percent back, based on your income in order to pay back your student loans,” Alexander said.
Alexander said that, rather than students paying the entire debt on their own, more state funding and tax money should be provided to help students pay for college.
He said requiring students to cover their educational expenses by deducting a portion of their future earnings would also encourage students to seek only the higher paying jobs and discourage students from getting lower paying jobs that society also needs to be filled.
According to Alexander, if payment plans like this were implemented, “it would drive students out of most government services, they wouldn’t become police officers, wouldn’t go into state or local government or become teachers.”