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slash disclosures. Hi, and welcome to the A16C podcast. I'm Lauren Murrow and I'm here with

Austin Elred, CEO and co-founder of the skills-based online school Lambda School and Darcy Kuliken,

a partner on the consumer tech team. Today we're discussing an issue that has saddled much

of a generation, student debt. Student debt currently stands at more than

$1.5 trillion, which makes it the second highest consumer debt category behind mortgage debt.

The national total for student debt is higher than both credit cards and auto loans.

One solution that's been proposed is income share agreements or ISAs.

It's a concept currently in the zeitgeist that's spurring debate across media and politics.

Here's the idea.

Rather than charging students tuition to attend college, often forcing them to then take out loans in the process, they go to school for free.

But under an ISA, they are then required to pay back a

percentage of their income after graduation, but only if they land a job with a salary that

meets a certain amount. In this episode, we delve into some of the greater implications

ISAs may have for the future of education, the economy, and more. We also touched on some of the challenges of ISAs,

why they've been relatively slow to gain traction,

why some have failed in the past,

and why some in the political sphere are still skeptical.

As we begin our conversation,

Austin gives his explanation for why ISA's work.

...