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9 Things to Know About Income-Share Agreements

August 4, 2015

By Kevin J. James

As politicians grapple with the issue of student debt, a few have turned to a novel financing option called income-share agreements (or ISAs) as one part of the solution on this issue. Presidential candidates Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who introduced ISA legislation in 2014, and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey both mentioned ISAs in major campaign speeches recently. And last week, Reps. Todd Young, R-Ind., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., introduced bipartisan legislation on this idea.

While garnering more attention recently, income-share agreements are still a relatively new addition to the public debate. As someone who has written favorably about them, I wanted to share my thoughts on questions and concerns commonly raised in response to the idea.

What are ISAs? An income-share agreement is an alternative to a student loan. Right now many students take on debt to help pay for school but later find themselves unable to afford their payments, either due to unemployment, struggles to find a well-paying job or other reasons. Some students even see their loan balance grow rather than shrink during these periods if they don't cover continuously accruing interest.

Read the full article at U.S. News & World Report: 9 Things to Know About Income-Share Agreements

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