THE CHALLENGE OF COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY CONTINUES TO PLAGUE college students from coast to coast. While annual increases in tuition and fees have dramatically slowed, according to a 2015 College Board survey— with an average increase of 3% over the last five years compared to the 9.5% increase in 2009–2010 — the average annual cost for an in-state student at a four-year public university (published) is a staggering $20,770. For students at four-year private universities, the cost is even higher, at $46,950.

Furthermore, student debt is at an all-time high. 44.2 million Americans hold $1.45 trillion in student loan debt, $620 billion more than the total credit card debt in the United States. The Class of 2016 graduated with an average debt of $37,172, up six percent from the year before.

The seriousness of the crisis was a major factor in Senator Bernie Sanders’ success among young voters in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries. But despite mounting outcry over high tuition and fees at postsecondary institutions, many remain skeptical about the viability of any affordable college education policy proposal that does not involve high tax increases.

That’s where the $48 fix, pushed by California student advocates at the Reclaim CA Higher Education Coalition, comes in.

The premise of the plan is to provide Californians with tuition-free higher education, and to restore the 1960 Master Plan of Higher Education to its original purpose: guaranteeing affordable public college education at University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and California Community College (CCC) campuses. In short, this would be accomplished through:

1. The passage of a 12.7% income tax surcharge that would cost median-income families in California $48

2. The passage of an estate tax that would reduce the income tax surcharge for median income families to $43

3. The passage of an oil severance tax that would reduce the income tax surcharge for median-income families to $40

In total, these three taxes would generate approximately $9.43 billion a year, money that would go into eliminating tuition and fees for all California college students at the three different levels (UC, CSU, CCC) without putting a heavy tax burden on the average Californian.

However, this plan is far from perfect. It implements an extreme version of progressive taxation, costing the top third of California families more than $150 per year and the top 5% more than $7,100 per year, costing that particular group 39 times more in proportion to their income. Furthermore, it provides no benefits for veterans, veteran dependents, and active-duty military personnel.

Nevertheless, the $48 fix is a viable step forward that has backing from various groups, from student governments to local Democratic parties, making the passage of such a plan in California a real possibility.

Now, more than ever, this country must eliminate the Ghidorah (a three-headed monster that has appeared in Japanese films) of high tuition, fees, and staggering student debt by implementing common-sense solutions that are not heavy tax burdens on the American people. Again, while the plan is not perfect, it is nevertheless a simple and practical option that stays focused on the main issue at hand without being overambitious.

If activists from other parts of the country want to get closer to a college-affordable future in their respective home states, taking a page out of the $48 fix movement in California would not be a bad idea.

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