UC & CSU Students May Pay Tuition Based On Future Income

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - UC and CSU students may get the opportunity to pay tuition based on their future earnings.

Assembly Bill 154 was introduced Monday. A similar bill, AB 2479, was held in committee last session with no action.

If AB 154 becomes law, the University of California and California State University would each designate a campus to test out the pilot program, which would start in the 2021-22 school year. Students in their Sophomore, Junior, or Senior years could apply and have their school costs covered. Six months after graduating, as long as that student earns at least $20,000 a year, the graduate would pay a portion of their income back to the school each month for 10 years.

Students who initially make under $20,000 a year would start repayment once his or her income level exceeds $20,000 a year.

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That percentage a student owes would be established at the start and would not change, regardless of whether that student earns more or less each year.

The program would cap how much a student ultimately owes; however, students would agree that the amount he or she ends up paying back may be more or less than the amount the school provided to him or her.

Schools could also impose certain eligibility requirements and cap the number of students allowed to participate based on how much money is available in the pilot program. That money would come from a newly established "Income Share Agreement Revolving Fund." The money for that fund would come from the yearly state budget and from participating graduates.

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Purdue University in Indiana has a similar program called "Back a Boiler" (the school mascot is the Boilermaker.) That program started in 2016 and has provided $5.9 million in Income Share Agreements to nearly 500 students in approximately 80 majors, according the the analysis done of AB 2479.

Assemblyman Randy Voepel (R-San Diego County) authored AB 154. He also authored AB 2479 and said last year it would help students manage the debt they incur while in school. California students in the Class of 2015 graduated with an average of more than $22,000 in loan debt.