www.insidehighered.com: House Republicans say their tax bill will stimulate the economy by increasing the take-home pay of workers across income levels. So many graduate students were stunned to learn that instead of increasing their already meager stipend checks, the bill seeks to tax their waived tuition as income. The results of such a change, many graduate students and higher education experts say, would be devastating not only to graduate students’ day-to-day finances but to research and teaching across academe.
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This is very scary to me. As reported, "the results of such a change, many graduate students and higher education experts say, would be devastating not only to graduate students’ day-to-day finances but to research and teaching across academe." Many of us rely on these stipends, and having to pay taxes on them is just devastating. Many of us are full time students, with funds in savings already dedicated to furthering out education, and spending our time in school, not working. I know that personally, this would be a hardship I'm not sure how I'd cover.
I have to say that Randi Weingarten, the AFT president's statement really sums out how I and many feel about this: "This tax plan is a plan to end U.S. leadership in higher education. It’s not going to make America great; it’s going to take America backward." If we can't afford it, we will wither be forced to take out more loans and have more debt, or discontinue our studies, already with a fair amount of debt. Thus could also prevent future students from applying, as higher education could become even more cost prohibitive.
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