This question is posed in the light of overwhelming student debt and non-completion in the US, the call for an employer levy by Bill Shorten in Australia, and the debate about student loans schemes punishing students in the UK. It has insights drawn from Lev Gonick at ASU, Helen Bartlett and her innovative colleagues and partners in Australia, and from a visit to Antony Finkelstein at City University St Georges,. This podbite brought to you from London, outlines the bold innovation that we must replicate if this avenue to sustainable funding for HE is to become real.