Colleges ask for a share of future salary in lieu of loans

"As more students balk at the debt loads they face after graduation, some colleges are offering an alternative: We’ll pay your tuition if you offer us a percentage of your future salary.

Norwich University [Vermont] announced Tuesday that it will become the latest school to offer this type of contract, known as an income share agreement. Norwich’s program is starting out on a small scale, mainly for students who do not have access to other types of loans or those who are taking longer than the traditional eight semesters to finish their degree." …

https://wtop.com/local/2018/07/colleges-ask-for-a-share-of-future-salary-in-lieu-of-loans/amp/

So they are betting on a student’s potential future earning. I guess learning for the sake of learning is out the window. They are going to offer loans to accounting majors, but not art history. Is that how it is going to work?
I should have drawn up such contract with my kids - a % of their future earnings.

So an 18 year old can sign away future earnings, but can’t buy a beer. Nice!

Harvard tried this over a decade ago. Maybe longer. It was probably two decades ago. If I recall correctly, the agreement was complete tuition remission for one (1%) of the student’s annual earnings for life.

How did it turn out for them?

Not sure. The theory was that it was worthwhile for Harvard to invest in its own product.

I suspect that ballooning endowments & the focus on grant based financial aid may have had an effect on this option. But, I really do not know for certain.

Indentured servants?