margotinstead of loans universities should operate on a 'pay it forward' model which would be functionally the same but without the ability to make tons of profit off of other people
also psychologically i feel like student loans would be easier to pay off if you know that paying them off means someone else is directly benefiting by getting an education
there'd still be a tooooon of problems with a system like this, i'm sure, but importantly: less worse problems than currently
Andrew Wiley@emaytch I don't remember where off the top of my head, but I've heard of a college running a system where you sign a contract that you pay back your loan by paying a certain percentage of your income above a certain threshold? And if you don't hit that threshold, you don't pay.
@emaytch Think it was Purdue and Back a Boiler. Looks like it was killed because people viewed it as a loan and not the college making an investment and it bothered people that "percentage of your income" does mean you'll pay back more than your tuition if you're wildly successful.
@ThatWileyGuy yeah i can see that being an issue-- you'd probably want some sort of upper limit on the payback, maybe tuition cost + inflation, maybe a bit more, with options to donate more to help more ppl? idk, the details would def have to be worked out
Helen LH@emaytch @ThatWileyGuy
We do this in the UK, you only pay back your student loans if you earn over a threshold and it's a percentage of your wage, once you have paid it off (including interest) you are done. And if you haven't paid off the loan between 25 and 40 years (depending on which plan you're on), then the remaining amount will be written off
https://www.which.co.uk/money/credit-cards-and-loans/loans/repaying-your-student-loan-ans9y5Y3TMAr
We do this in the UK, you only pay back your student loans if you earn over a threshold and it's a percentage of your wage, once you have paid it off (including interest) you are done. And if you haven't paid off the loan between 25 and 40 years (depending on which plan you're on), then the remaining amount will be written off
https://www.which.co.uk/money/credit-cards-and-loans/loans/repaying-your-student-loan-ans9y5Y3TMAr
@ThatWileyGuy this is kind of what i was thinking too-- a loan is equally difficult for a person who has a great job and a person who can't get employed at all, so its better to let ppl who can pay more than ppl who struggle. it also provides an incentive to the university to make sure their students are successful bc that translates to more funding!