We all know that college is expensive as f*ck, and its getting to the point of no return. A group called Campus Consultants projected that at the current rate of tuition increases, a private university could cost as much as $130,000 per year by 2030. This of course is totally rational, affordable, and something every American will have the opportunity to participate in. 

A NYT Op-Ed written by University of Chicago Professor Luigi Zingales proposes quite an interesting solution; instead of having students take out loans and face crippling debt, have people invest in students, who would then give a percentage of their future earnings back to the investor. Gawker's Hamilton Nolan seems to be a fan of the idea, and brought up a few solid points about its potential implementation:

1. The risk falls on the investor, who has money, rather than on the student, who does not.
2. It allows students to make a career choice without regard to an instantaneous need to start repaying loans.
3. F*ck Yale.

Its certainly a well-thought out proposal, and it would likely solve a sh*tload of the problems currently plaguing the University system. However, because a great deal of one's collegiate education occurs outside the classroom, it also brings up some highly interesting scenarios:

1. Would the investors pay for black-out bar tabs and/or drinks bought for girls of interest? 

• Think this should be based on some sort of Resume index (RI), which would be a combination of GPA, extracurriculars, personal dope-ness, and anything else that generally translates into future earnings. The higher the RI, the more money budgeted for sh*t like this. Drinks for potential hookups should be based on a student's conversion rate. This will teach discipline while also emphasizing craft. 

2. For girls, how much money will be allocated towards frozen smoothies and coconut water?

3. Is there a clothing budget? If so, would it be based on the douchiness of the person, douchiness of the school, or both? Would the investment cover all croakie purchases? 

4. Would these investments have a built-in rewards component for when students engage in particularly collegiate behavior? 

• 'Particularly collegiate behavior' would consist of anything from exaggerating the length of an all-nighter to photo-bombing an instragram of a roommates meal. 

5. Does this cover spring break trips? Is there a bonus for becoming a meme or accidental viral video star while on said spring break trip? 

So many questions. Not to mention the people who would be investing would also be old, and old people are not always immortal. Suffice to say that a decent amount of investors may never see that substantial of a return. 

Regardless, this is definitely a refreshing take on a problem that seems to be slipping deeper and deeper into financial quicksand. Will be really interesting to see if this picks up any steam.

[H/T: Gawker]