http://www.chron.com/local/education/campus-chronicles/article/Graduate-student-tuition-tax-appears-dead-in-tax-12438470.php
Graduate student tuition tax appears dead in tax bill
Still, large university endowments are in question, per reports
Published 8:39 am, Monday, December 18, 2017
Graduate student tuition waivers will remain tax-free in the latest version of the GOP tax bill, which lawmakers hope to approve and deliver to President Donald Trump this week.
A provision to tax tuition waivers was one of several key concerns for Texas' research universities, which waive parts of tuition as graduate students run research labs and teach classes. Graduate students, who earn small stipends, also take their own classes and do independent research.
A letter from Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Dallas) and dozens of other lawmakers to U.S. House leaders said taxing graduate tuition waivers would be "unfair" and inhibit economic growth.
Other provisions of the tax bill still could hit the area's academic institutions.
As the Chronicle of Higher Education reports:
"A proposed tax on the endowment earnings of the wealthiest colleges remained in the bill. The legislation would place a 1.4-percent tax on the investment earnings of endowments at colleges with more than 500 students and $500,000 in endowment per student. The provision is expected to affect fewer than 30 colleges nationwide, though the number could certainly grow. A small change in this section states that the tax applies only to 'institutions more than 50 percent of the tuition paying students of which are located in the United States.'"
Inside Higher Education also notes that the merged tax plan continues to allow student loan borrowers to deduct up to $2,500 toward student loan interest from taxable income annually.
Texas university presidents have begun speaking out against the bill more widely after a silence that some students criticized.
University of Texas at Austin President Greg Fenves and Trinity University President Danny Anderson in Texas Monthly this weekend called endowments "a critical source of student financial aid."
Last week, Rice University President David Leebron said there was "virtually nothing good" in the tax legislation, criticizing the endowment tax, in a Houston Chronicle essay.
