Norwich University to offer new tuition plan

Norwich University is implementing a new income sharing tuition plan for its students this fall, hoping to improve affordability, student retention and degree completion.

School officials say it will allow them to offer reduced tuition in exchange for a share of a student's income after they graduate. Students will pay back a set amount of their income after graduation. Plans include a six-month grace period and a $20,000 minimum income before payments start. Students who choose to go back to school, volunteer, or leave the workforce to start a family won't be required to make payments.

"We are offering up to $5,000 a year. So this offer is for students for whom that would be a barrier to their success, to their graduation," said the University's Daphne Larkin. "We're doing this to help our students succeed. We want them to graduate."

Several institutions use similar programs, including Purdue University, Lackawanna College in Pennsylvania, and Clarkson University in New York.

Norwich officials expect about 50 students to use the program.