There are only some places where that actually works. For nursing, teaching and other basically-vocational degrees this works okay: you need the paper to get th

There are only some places where that actually works. For nursing, teaching and other basically-vocational degrees this works okay: you need the paper to get the degree. But a lot of degrees aren't like that, and a lot of places don't care which degree you have once you've had a similar job. Why would all employers buy into this? They can get someone with equivalent knowledge a little cheaper. It's a pain, but the graduate can certainly still launder their lack of degree into a job (or even just lie about it! people do that all the time, and are only sometimes caught). The idea you're suggesting sounds something like an ISA: no cost upfront, X% of your income when you get the job. Those have other problems: universities will be incentivized to get the most employable students. They're also more expensive (since the downside risk is all on the university).