Oregon experiments with ways to pay off college costs

Oregon’s taking the lead in curbing college costs, Jim Braude reports in a recent Globe Magazine column.

Less than two weeks before the president signed the (college loan) interest rate change into law, the governor of the Beaver State signed the Pay It Forward, Pay It Back bill. The measure calls for a state commission to look into launching a pilot program in which students would pay nothing while attending public colleges. After graduation, they would remit a small, fixed percentage of their income. If you become a teacher, you’ll kick in a lot less than if you go to a hedge fund.

Barbara Dudley, the Portland State adjunct professor whose class came up with the plan, acknowledges it won’t reduce college costs. But there is huge interest, so to speak: When I talked with Dudley, she had just taken part in a conference call with participants from 14 states. Among them was Massachusetts state Representative Dan Winslow, who has filed legislation to consider the Oregon plan here.

Globe subscribers can read Braude's full column here.