Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, the former governor of Indiana and longed-for presidential candidate, has a bold idea for weaning students off college loans: Make a pitch meeting with an investor.
Daniels told a congressional panel Tuesday that investors – such as alumni – could agree to finance students’ college degrees in exchange for a portion of their income thereafter, perhaps as an alternative to plain old donations, the Indianapolis Star reports:
But to try that idea, Daniels told members of Congress on Tuesday, he needs federal legislation.
“When I bring it up, people say, ‘Yeah, it’s a great concept. But the law is not clear,’ ” Daniels said after testifying before a House panel working on a higher-education bill.
He also called on lawmakers to simplify financial aid, reduce regulatory burdens on schools and let them try approaches such as moving students along “based on subject mastery rather than on credit hours,” the Star said:
Indiana Rep. Luke Messer, a member of the committee, said the income-sharing idea is new to him, but he’s intrigued.
‘It’s a Daniels-like idea, where you’re trying to find innovative ways to help deal with student debt,” the Shelbyville Republican said after Tuesday’s hearing before the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.
The idea even has cautious support from the left-leaning Brookings Institution and was introduced as legislation last year by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Rep. Tom Petri of Wisconsin, though their bills failed, the Star said.
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