The American social compact may be under siege, with conservatives deriding the idea of underwriting other people™s healthcare and insisting that government spending be cut. But a proposal that graduates pay for the university education of students who come after them is gaining unexpected traction. The idea, Pay It Forward, was formulated by a Seattle thinktank and may soon be tested in the nearby state of Oregon. Legislation to follow suit is under consideration in at least 10 of the other 50 US states. The idea would make public universities tuition-free for students who agree to pay a portion of their incomes post-graduation into a fund that would support the education of successive generations. Detractors say the numbers don™t add up and that Pay It Forward is really just another tax or loan ” two of the most vilified terms in a nation deeply divided over how much tax should be paid and by whom, and where total student loan debt has surpassed the seemingly implausible $1 trillion (Rs.6,130,000 crore) mark. Advocates say that while the idea is modelled on the income-based repayment systems in the UK and Australia, Pay It Forward is not a loan, because graduates are not required to repay a predetermined amount. Rather, they would pay a specified percentage of their earnings over a given number of years. The argument is that this is a fair way to reimburse the state for a service that enhances recipients™ net worth. And it seems to be making inroads with those looking for an alternative to skyrocketing tuition costs and falling public support for higher education. œAnything that we can do to work on the issue of access and affordability is important, says Sam Dotters-Katz, president of the student government at the University of Oregon. In Oregon, legislators have approved a study of the idea and are considering a pilot programme to begin in 2015. Similar legislation has been proposed or is under deliberation in at least 10 other states: Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington. The approach is also being discussed in California and Texas. And one US senator has urged that federal money be allocated to get things started. œThey realise that the current system is broken and this is an interesting out-of-the-box paradigm shift in terms of higher education access, says John Burbank, executive director of the Seattle-based Economic Opportunity Institute, the liberal think tank which formulated the idea. Under the scheme, graduates would pay 0.75 percent of their post-tax income into the fund for every year they were at university over a set period of time. A student who received a degree in four years, for example, would pay 3 percent of her earnings for 24 years after graduation. The proposal™s backers say that this prospect would not necessarily compel students in high-income majors to go elsewhere. They argue that the lure of free education is stronger than concern about future obligations, especially for young adults about to enter university. œWhen you™re 18,…
