December 1, 2017
By Austin Cannon
...As the president (click here) of the ISU Graduate and Professional Student Senate, he’s fielded questions from his fellow graduate students about how the tax bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed on Nov. 16 will affect them. He’s sent letters to members of Iowa’s congressional delegation and has talked with university administrators about the Republican-backed bill that would make graduate students have to pay more in taxes.
To Lawana, it would make the lives of strapped-for-cash graduate students even harder. While he hadn’t heard any of his classmates say they could no longer attend ISU if the bill is signed into law, he and university officials are worried it could discourage potential graduate students from attending.
“They would think twice now because of just how much money they would have to pay unnecessarily,” Lawana said.
Under one provision in the House bill, graduate students’ tuition waivers would be counted as income that could then be taxed. Students across the country rely on those waivers that essentially pay for part or all of their tuition. (Graduate students at ISU actually receive tuition scholarships in lieu of tuition waivers, but students and university officials said the GOP plan would make those scholarships taxable.)
But it’s unknown at this point whether that part of the bill will make it into law. The tax-reform bill the Senate was considering as of early Friday night doesn’t include a tuition-waiver provision, but if both bills are passed, that element could make it through the reconciliation process and onto President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
If that’s the case, ISU is preparing contingency plans to help graduate students who’d have to shoulder a higher tax burden....
