Several private colleges are considering an alternative to traditional student grants and loans - Income Share Agreements (ISAs) - in which colleges or outside capital sources provide loans to students with the promise that students will pay a percentage of their income with no interest for a set period of time after graduation. Critics argue that the arrangement will simply add to existing student debt and favor students in higher-paying math and science majors, programs in which minorities lack proportionate representation. Can colleges adjust the financing model to take into account these concerns?

In response to the rising cost of college and a changing labor market, several startups are offering an alternative to traditional 4-year higher education programs. In exchange for on average one year of training in computer programming at no cost upfront, students turn over a portion of their salary for a set number of years after graduating. If they are not offered a job within a certain period of time, students don't have to pay. "How many people have tried to learn programming on their own and not made it?" co-founder of Lambda School said. "Usually that's just a matter of not sticking it out ."

For over 10 years, a non-profit in Kalamazoo, Michigan has been covering 65 to 100 percent of college costs for local public school students. Kalamazoo Promise, which has inspired similar programs throughout the country, aims to retain and increase the city's population (after dropping numbers in recent decades) and improve college attendance and completion rates. So far, high school dropout rates have declined and more Kalamazoo students are enrolling in college. Furthermore, the improvements have been the same for low-income and minority students as for middle-income and white students.

Low-income students are always looking for ways to finance their education. A new system using “human capital contracts” to pay for higher education isn’t as scary as it sounds.

At Georgia State University in Atlanta, a couple of hundred dollars can often be the tipping point for whether a student can graduate or not. To address this issue and to further help low income students, the college has implemented a retention grant system, providing these essential funds to get students over the finish line.

At Lambda School, students pay nothing up front, with the understanding that they will contribute a set percentage of their future salaries to the school's operating costs. Now, Lambda is experimenting with expanding the Income Share Agreement model from its current coding focus to a broader range of disciplines, such as nursing and cybersecurity and traditional four-year college majors.

A partnership between Maine high schools and Thomas College is helping cut college costs by at least $30,000. Through the Pathways program, students enroll in dual enrollment classes while still in high school and complete extra credit hours and summer classes while in college en route to finishing a bachelors degree in three years instead of the traditional four.

A student-driven effort at the University of North Texas (UNT) has become a model for other colleges seeking to expose students to lessons about credit, budgeting, and other important topics. The director of UNT's Money Management Center says of the schools diverse programming, "Financial literacy means different things to different people." Now, Pepperdine University, among other schools, is rolling out its own curriculum and engagement efforts with UNT's "one size does not fit all" approach in mind.

Berea College, a liberal arts college located in Kentucky, has a massive $1 billion endowment. But unlike other private liberal arts colleges with whopping endowments, Berea has accumulated its endowment all while offering four-year degrees to students tuition-free, keeping costs down by employing students and fundraising.