'U' Grad Students Protest GOP Tax Reform Plan
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Graduate and Ph.D. students at the University of Minnesota joined a national day of rallying against a version of tax reform that has passed in the United States House of Representatives.
The bill also includes a provision that would count graduate tuition waivers as taxable income.
On the steps of the administrative building and through Coffman Plaza, a few hundred students called on university leaders to denounce the House version of a federal tax plan.
Currently, several Masters and Ph.D. students' tuition is covered, and that money is not taxed as long as the student does research or teaches for the university.
That would change under the current plan that has passed in the House.
It is an additional cost many U of M students fear they would not be able to afford.
"I break even every month but I think this would just put me over the edge," said Nico Ramos Flores, who is pursuing a Ph.D in Hispanic studies.
The University released a statement explaining the institution is frustrated with the possible change. It reads:
"We share our graduate students' frustration with the provisions in the federal tax bill that would negatively impact graduate students in Minnesota and across the nation. We are advocating hard to stop these provisions from moving forward. The University welcomes conversations with students regarding how the University can better support them and improve the graduate student experience at the U of M."
Currently, the Senate is considering a tax bill that does not include the provision on graduate tuition waivers.
If that version passes in the Senate, the House and Senate would have to compromise on a version of a tax plan.
That final version would make it to President Donald Trump's desk.
