Ambition has always traveled upwind in this country, and so in each generation with a westward breeze California goes against the current. Not satisfied with armchair editorials, the board of the Highlander, the University of California, Riverside student newspaper, took a stand by drafting a financial proposal for the future of the University of California higher education system. They presented their "Fix UC" plan to California's Board of Regents, and once again made headlines, their outline being passed back and forth among newspapers and so never really leaving the editorial chamber.
Their state lacking common-wealth, as does our own, California students have faced decreased state appropriations and consequent hikes in tuition. Given "The UC's dependency on the state leaves it at the will of financial ebbs and flows," Fix UC wants a wall of separation between college and state. In its first, mature step toward financial independence, the California higher education system would drop all tuition costs and financial aid.
Then, at face value, school would become free, but students would be expected to reinvest 5 percent of their income toward paying back the cost of their education for a 20-year period post-graduation. Working in California or in the public sector allows students to pay back less. Unemployed graduates can also defer payments. But that's it. An elegant plan in economic prose, with the kind of transparency the public demands, this proposal fits in a four-page PDF and hides very little behind it.
Before the problems in practice, the problems in theory. High wage-earners, who could afford but not be allowed to pay for college at the door, would potentially pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for an education. This could be overcome if the plan included a set cap on the amount of income subject to the 5 percent rate of repayment. A more serious concern is that those receiving financial aid, even if it currently entails interest payments on debt and student loans, might end up paying more according to the Fix UC plan. In fact, the plan would start with the 57 percent of UC students on financial aid, as they are the ones who would first pay back into the system. Those behind the Fix UC plan imagine that this surplus revenue from those who already pay less would give the plan the financial jets to get going here. But if these already burdened financial aid recipients do not immediately find a stable income and job, which is not unlikely given the economic forecast, then this plan cannot even get off its theoretical ground, where remember we turn off gravity.
"UC needs the money now, not dribbled in over 20 years," Economics Prof. David Breneman said in an email. Breneman suggested that Fix UC incorporate measures emulating securitized mortgages. He also brought up logistical questions: Who could keep track of student incomes and get the Universities' guarantee? The IRS is a possibility, he said. The Fix UC drafters themselves want a new university collecting office, similar to a tax board. Well, if you are going to restructure "contributions" on incomes, base it on percentages and enforce it by a board, why not just bag the whole thing and call it changing taxes?
Because introducing factors such as unemployment brings in a degree of economic uncertainty indicative of the times, any talk of Fix UC and its percentage rates would mirror the same ideological battles fought the world round over. Yet this was a project whose self-proclaimed "primary goal was to initiate a conversation and spearhead an effort to come up with an out-of-the-box solution," because nothing says changing the conversation like dealing out clich
Read More
FREED: Infrastructure failings leave Charlottesville out in the cold
By Dan Freed | 22 hours agoInstead of relying on the expected benevolence of civilians, the City should take full responsibility for the clearing of sidewalks throughout the City.
LETTER: Medical students stand in support of transgender youth
By Rachel Rezabek , Russell Hawes , Ishaan Rischie , Elianna Dunster , Kaile Maske , Zain Ahmad and Zoe Ziff | 2 days agoAs future physicians, we cannot remain silent, especially since U.Va. Health is one of the most comprehensive gender health centers in the country.
HUYNH: The Supreme Court must support civil rights litigation in Virginia and beyond
By Viet Huynh | 2 days agoThe Supreme Court must prioritize protecting the litigating power of the people against potentially tyrannical laws by their government.
