Jun 16, 2014 03:12 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The "Pay it Forward" college tuition reform proposal may be attractive, if radical, in theory, but it also figures to be expensive to get started.

According to the Oregonian, the state of Oregon would have to pay an extra $5 million to $20 million per year for 20 years to send 4,000 students to school for free. The idea behind "Pay it Forward" is that graduates will go to a public school or community college for free and then agree to pay a portion of their salary for a set amount of time.

A group of Portland State University students first pitched the radical tuition reform plan and different groups have since pitched new iterations of the proposal in their states. The proposal is meant to eliminate student loan debt and encourage students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend college.

"I feel an obligation to give this serious consideration," Tim Nesbitt, head of the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, said in a statement Wednesday.

The Oregonian reported the state would have to pay $6.5 million in the first year of a proposal to send 1,000 students to school for free in the fall of 2016. Completing as much undergraduate work as possible, that figure would increase to its peak of $20 million in 2020. Though the cost to taxpayers would be significant, Pay it Forward would be self-sufficient in about 22 years, with post-graduates agreeing to pay back three to five percent of their income for 20 years.

Nothing has been decided in Oregon and the commission is reportedly considering other options similar to Pay it Forward. Oregon could launch Pay it Forward for the 2016 academic year and accept up to 1,000 applicants. If they receive more than 1,000, names would have to be chosen at random.

The Associated Press reported last year that Oregon unanimously approved a study to explore Pay it Forward. Similar versions of Pay it Forward are also being explored and weighed by states including New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee.

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