The first government examination of a radical new tuition model called “Pay It Forward” was presented to lawmakers in Oregon last week, explaining for the first time how much a state would pay to implement the new system.

Sending 4,000 students to college without a tuition bill would cost the state of Oregon $5 to $20 million a year for two decades, the Oregonian reports.

Representatives from the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission laid out their examination of the costs of a pilot program to state lawmakers:

If Oregon were to allow 1,000 students a year to start college on a tuition-free path in fall 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and then allow them to complete as much undergraduate work as they can on that same tuition-free deal, the state would have to pay $6.5 million in the first year, $20 million at the peak in 2020 and amounts between those figures over 20 years, officials said.

Under the Pay It Forward model, students attend public colleges without a tuition bill with the understanding they will send a small percentage of their income for a set number of years. Usually, depending on whose proposal you’re looking at, it’s around 3 to 5 percent for about 20 years. A graduate who has a low income during this period wouldn’t pay much for their degree, while successful and wealthy degree holders will pay more, the same way income taxes work.

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