There's a huge difference: the Australian system doesn't allow student loan investors (just the government?) to get more than the inflation-adjusted value of th

There's a huge difference: the Australian system doesn't allow student loan investors (just the government?) to get more than the inflation-adjusted value of the interest-free loan. A percentage-of-earnings scheme, by not placing such a limit on the amount of money investors can make, would have two interesting effects: 1. Investors would have more incentive to help students succeed financially, since they get a cut of the profits. 2. Students who strike it rich would, in a competitive market, end up subsidizing everybody else. Think startups: the returns on VC's money come disproportionately from a few successes, and this lets them invest in a bunch of companies that probably won't be big hits, to get the few that will get big.