Here is an extra credit opportunity, which might be especially valuable for any students who are thinking of going to graduate school in the future. To get one point extra credit, you need to register for, attend, and post a blog about this event (ideally with a photo):
Beyond the Baccalaureate: A Look at Rutgers Graduate Education
Wednesday 12/6, 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
Academic Building, Room 4225
15 Seminary Pl.
Registration is important, as if there are a lot of students interested (and there may be) the event may be moved to another location. And there may be a lot of interest, as several articles have gotten students worried:
- The House Just Voted to Bankrupt Graduate Students
- A Republican Tax Proposal Would Make Academia Even Whiter
- Senate Passes Tax Bill With Major Implications for Higher Ed
- Passage of Senate Tax-Reform Bill Leaves Colleges Scrambling
Basically, the version of the Tax Bill that passed the House of Representatives at a midnight session on Friday into Saturday has graduate students and grad programs worried. As proposed, that bill would tax graduate students on their tuition remission as though it were income. Tuition remission is money that graduate students never see as income, but it can be a very large amount -- as much as $50,000 per year at some institutions. And because most graduate students are living on much smaller stipends (often from $20 - $30,000), if they were taxed on their tuition remission it could double or even triple their annual salaries and cost them more than they can afford in taxes. Of course, the House bill does have to be reconciled with the bill that passed the Senate, which does not include this provision, so it is possible that this change in the tax code could be eliminated in committee. But there is also a significant chance that it could go forward, in which case it would really alter the landscape of graduate liberal arts education in this country in many ways -- most of all by making it practically unaffordable for any but the wealthy, or perhaps for international students.
The meeting will likely feature lively discussion.
