GenerationLibre puts forward a new tuition fee model allowing all students to freely access higher education in exchange for a payback in the form of a percentage of their future revenues stream throughout a certain period of time.
The current French higher education system is free for any student and is financed mainly by taxes but appears to run out of steam. Not only does it lack funding to function properly, but it also generally ranks low by international standards. Our system clearly does not fulfil its supposed aims, providing equality of opportunities and fostering social mobility.
In order to partially address this issue, GenerationLibre suggests a major overhaul of the current tuition fees system charged by higher education establishments. Among the many alternative templates established and experienced all over the word, we have drawn inspiration from the one chosen by the American state of Oregon.
Our proposal’s goal is twofold: promoting justice and excellence.
We therefore suggest setting up a new system of tuition fees allowing students to have free access to higher education in exchange for the payment of a certain percentage of their future salary over a certain period of time (One of our examples: 3% for 24 years).
The amounts paid back by previous students would be collected by tax authorities and deposited in a financial fund specific to each higher education establishment. Each of them would thus independently manage its own tuition fees’ parameters and revenues.
This proposal’s aim is twofold. It would promote justice, as it ensures that these who benefit from this system, i.e. graduates students, are the only ones paying for the establishment they chose while guaranteeing some redistribution effects among graduates. It would also help pursue excellence as these establishments would be incentivized to deliver high-quality education, allowing students to use their study time as a springboard of success.
GenerationLibre wants to allow French local authorities, especially municipalities, to seize their own competences.
The different decentralization waves in France didn’t result in greater autonomy for local authorities. Yet our report shows, as many studies have explored, that a greater autonomy can have benefits in terms of economic efficiency, can help to reconcile citizen with politics, and can even reduce territorial inequalities.
The French Constitution doesn’t need to be changed as it already affirms the decentralized organization of the French Republic. We suggest changing the logic of competence sharing, so far decided by the central state, by modifying article L.1111-8-1 of the “Code general des collectivités territoriales”. The central state would hence be bound to grant any competence to municipalities demanding it. Priority should be given to local authorities.
In order to decentralize effectively, we need to break up with the logic of top-down reforms and replace it with the principle of “bottom-up subsidiarity”.
The change is not revolutionary, but it would change the decentralization process from a top-down approach to a bottom-up one.
This reform would renew with a French tradition of respecting the diversity of its territories. It could also bring the decision-making process closer to citizens, hence provide an answer to the democratic challenges of today.
