Bill would let college grads pay tuition from future paychecks

The reward of a college degree can be a good paying job but it can also burden graduates with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. A bill in Olympia would allow some students to pay tuition after they graduate, out of future earnings.

They’re calling it the “Pay it Forward” program. Under HB 2720 select incoming college students would get their tuition paid. They’d sign a contract, agreeing to repay the program a certain percentage of their future paycheck.

“What they’re doing is they’re making a promise that they’ll pay it back within a certain period of time,” said Rep. Larry Haler. A period no longer than 25 years.

David Slagle, an administrator at Clover Park High School, told a House committee in Olympia recently that kids who want to go to college should not be shut out.

“Our students need better options. These students want to go, need to go but often they’re priced out.” And then there’s the student loans. The average college graduate in Washington is saddled with loan debt of between $20,000-$30,000. Slagle said Pay It Forward gives more kids a chance to “go to college without graduating with mountains of crippling debt.”

Skeptics of the plan include Karen Strickland of the American Federation of Teachers. Her solution is to focus on holding down, even freezing tuition costs and increasing support for financial need grants.

Rep. Gerry Pollett, said the Pay It Forward program would limit tuition repayment to no more than five percent of future salary.

“If you’re a teacher at $40,000 per year, your payment is, at five percent, $2,000. That is a lot more affordable and allows you to participate and maybe even live in the community where you’re teaching.”

Julie Garver at Evergreen College told lawmakers that new teachers are better off applying for public service loan forgiveness. WSU’s Chris Mewlick pointed out that the state would be responsible for program start-up costs.

“The resources it will take to fund the Pay It Forward program until it’s self-sufficient could instead by used in future years to achieve similar savings for students that wouldn’t have to be paid back over a 25-year period.”

Similar legislation is under consideration in more than a dozen other states. The Oregon legislature passed a bill last year to look into a pilot program. The Washington bill is sitting in House Appropriations. It would start with five high schools that serve high proportions of low-income students, including kids whose parents have never been to college.