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1. GOP tax bill would tax tuition wavers for grad students. This would be a disaster for US STEM PhD education.
chronicle.com/article/Republ…
chronicle.com/article/Republ…
2. Currently, STEM PhDs make about $30K per year and get tuition wavers. They can do their PhD without taking on debt, but barely so.
3. If they had to pay taxes on a calculated $50-$60K income (incl. tuition), the actual income would not cover living expenses anymore.
4. At that point, a PhD would not be a viable choice anymore, except for the independently wealthy.
5. Maybe private schools could somehow work around this by charging different tuition for grad students and undergrads.
6. But state schools would likely not be able to do that, due to various laws and regulations.
7. So, no more STEM PhDs at state schools in the US.
8. The author of the quoted article doesn’t even understand the gravity of this situation.
9. Update: See here for the links to the relevant law.
