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Students in Michigan could attend college for free thanks to a new measure.

A version of the pay-it-forward tuition, plan was introduced recently in the Michigan Legislature and is awaiting a vote. 

From Detroit Free Press:

But there is a catch. In return for free tuition, students have to agree to pay a fixed percentage of their future income for a specified number of years to a special fund that would pay other students’ college bills.

[…] More than 20 states are looking at some version of the plan, although most are simply looking at studying it, while the Michigan bill would set up a pilot program.

Michigan’s plan would require students to agree to pay a fixed percentage of their post-collegiate income — 2% for community college students and 4% for university students — to the fund for five years for each year they attended school under the program. So, a student who went to the University of Michigan and graduated in four years would have to pay 4% of their income back every year for the first 20 years after college.

Read more at Detroit Free Press

The legislation would establish a fund that will contain $2 million in start-up money for a pilot program involving 200 students.

Supporters hail the plan as a step towards removing financial barriers that stand in the way of many students attending college.

Thoughts on the pay-it-forward tuition plan?

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