UC administrator? UC Regent? |
Blog readers may recall that some UC-Riverside students came
up with a proposal to have “free” tuition at UC in exchange for a tax on
graduates’ future incomes. This idea has
actually been around for some time but more typically at the federal level, i.e., a
program involving all universities.
There
are a variety of issues such as the lack of a cash flow immediately until the
future graduates begin being taxed. If
such a plan were done only for one university system in one state, there are
enforcement issues. How would the tax be
collected from graduates who moved out of state and didn’t pay California
income tax? Could there be federal
cooperation?
In short, the idea applied
just to UC is not a simple proposal.
Nonetheless, the Regents claimed – when the Riverside proposal first
surfaced – to be interested. But at their
September retreat when all sorts of unusual ideas were batted around (e.g.,
give the parking services to the pension fund), I don’t recall that the Riverside
plan came up for discussion.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise has some coverage of
the plan in its latest incarnation and says that UC has “participated” in
looking at the plan but it does not seem have lent much support:
…Although UC officials have participated in those
discussions, they say they have not been convinced that the plan is viable. In March, the student group issued a revised
proposal, addressing some of the initial questions surrounding the idea. The 5
percent that would come out of graduates’ paychecks would apply only to those
making more than $30,000 annually, and it would be applied only to the first
$200,000 in yearly income…
“Frankly, it doesn’t seem like a viable option for UC right
now,” (UC spokesperson Steve) Montiel said. “It’s something we’ve looked at,
but it’s hard to see how it could be done with a single university (system).” Montiel
said if UC schools were the only ones offering such a pay model, they very well
might be flooded by applicants from across the country, particularly those in
lower-paying fields. He said officials also are concerned about the logistics
of being able to collect from graduates. It would require the involvement of
the federal government…
A video accompanies the story:
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