Congress Has Put Grad Students in Jeopardy

AAUP
November 22, 2017

The AAUP and a large coalition of other higher education groups have issued an open letter calling on legislatures to protect the graduate student tuition waiver and the students it benefits.

As the letter outlines, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) passed by the House Representatives would repeal a key provision that, if signed into law, will have consequences for graduate students across the nation.  In classifying graduate school tuition waivers as taxable income, Congress has placed graduate students in financial jeopardy, threatening long-term negative effects on our country's higher education system.  About 145,000 graduate students receive this tax waiver annually, and many serve as teachers or researchers.

Read the full statement and the open letter to elected officials at the national AAUP website here.