ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a proposal: the "Pay-It-Forward" (PIF) funding mechanism. This approach replaces upfront tuition and loans for non-tuition costs with post-graduation income-based payments. In principle, this would open access to institutions by reducing the immediate costs, eliminate student loan debt, and ensure that students paid only for the value that their educations provided them. The chapter focuses on three questions about the feasibility of such programs: the conditions under which the programs could be cost-neutral to students in comparison with traditional tuition plans, the conditions under which the programs could be revenue-neutral to institutions, and the effects of the programs on students who leave the institution before completing a degree. Reducing the cost of public higher education to both students and taxpayers remains a major ongoing aim of higher-education policy, both nationally and in the Rocky Mountain states.
