Innovation is the catalyst in the scheme of human advancement. As we learn to make the
hardships in life easier, we allow ourselves to move forward in society. The main way to
stimulate the population to innovate is by educating people. Higher education allows individuals
to ask questions that haven’t been asked yet, and potentially discover something that can be a
benefit to society. The value of innovation can be observed throughout the entire history of
humanity, going back to written language, and the wheel. These tools are simple, yet integral
parts of society, regardless of how long ago they were invented. In today’s world, the center of
innovation has shifted from individual work into a more collaborative and scholarly setting.
Universities are the forefront on innovations. When writing a paper that needs a statistical
analysis for example, one would be hard-pressed in finding a study that wasn’t done by a higher
education institution. Most of the leg work that is required to be done in these studies and
research labs is completed by students that are enrolled in a graduate program at that school.
Graduate students are in danger of losing a large portion of their pay check by way of tax, which
begs the question, what’s going to happen if we lose graduate students?
Graduate students are payed an average of $29,964 a year by US Universities to study
and work towards their ambitions in higher education (GlassDoor.com). This seems to be a fair
amount, but it is only just sufficient in supporting oneself. The salary is insufficient, however, for
the amount of work that a graduate student must put in to attain their degree.
There are numerous responsibilities assigned to a US graduate student, which is in turn
repaid with sparse compensation. Upon first glance, one might think that their salary is a great
deal, since a graduate student’s schedule is much less structured than an undergraduate student
who isn’t being paid; but when looking into the life of the average graduate student, the most
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noticeable change between it and undergraduate studies is the credit hours. “While the typical
undergraduate carries 15 or more credit hours, the typical graduate students carry 9 or fewer”
(O’Leary). Although this may seem easier than undergraduate studies, it is important to
understand that each class for a graduate student is more rigorous, and would require much more
effort outside of class, since the topics that are discussed are more abstract. When coupling this
work with research, being a teaching assistant, and working on your own personal thesis, a
$29,000 salary doesn’t really cut it. The work day for a grad student, when only considering the
main responsibilities and not the independent work, is a 20+ hour work day (Kelderman). With
the work that the students must do independently, it adds up to be a very laborious schedule, with
very little pay at the end of it. The rationale for the low salary for these students stems from the
fact that they don’t have to pay for college, well at least not directly. The school pays for their
tuition, which is technically counted as pay, but it isn’t really money that is in the control of a
grad student. Since the school is putting their pay into paying off tuition, institutions believe that
the salary that grad students are granted is plenty. Because of this tuition waiver, most grad
students have learned to make do with the $20,000 paycheck.
With the already low pay that graduate students must deal with, it would be fair to
assume that change would be around the corner for graduate students. Although this assumption
would prove to be correct, the tale of graduate student compensation has unfortunately only
taken a turn for the worse. On October 18th 2017, the Republican party unveiled their new tax
plan, the GOP Tax Plan. The plan is a bill that has been proposed to change how certain groups
are taxed with the goal of bettering the nation through tax cuts for some, and an increase in
taxation for others. Although this plan will be a blessing to privately owned businesses, large
corporations, and the wealthy, it will cause 31% of the middle class, graduate students, large
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Universities, and the poor to get taxed more heavily (Long). It seems that even though the plan is
helping businesses, it is hurting those who are already struggling financially. Those who already
have trouble paying federal tax will be required to pay even more if this bill were to be made into
a law. A prime example of taking tax from a group that doesn’t have money to give is graduate
students.
Under the new tax plan, graduate students will now be taxed for not just their income, but
also the stipend that was once a nontaxable grant from the school they work for. This is similar
to an older plan for student loan payment known as “Repaye” which would tax students for the
amount that they would “make” in forgiveness of loans (Kelderman). To put the amount into
perspective, one can look at the situation of Dacen Waters. Dacen is a graduate stuents currently
studying physics at Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently being payed about $28,000,
which is just enough in his opinion to “scrape by” financially. Waters fears that with the tuition
waiver being taxed, he wouldn’t be able to sustain himself and finish his graduate path. His
concern is completely warranted, as he would be taxed from his $43,000 tuition waiver, which is
by no means a small price to pay (Berman). This taxation could severely harm the graduate
student and PhD seeking population, as becoming a graduate student now wouldn’t be a
sustainable alternate to moving into industry or non-academic work. The problem, however,
doesn’t simply end with graduate students. In most places, individuals that have received a
higher education are an integral resource. There is a concern that with the tax plan, the better
graduate students who have options in other countries will move to places like Canada or
Germany to finish their career path (Kelderman). With them moving, we take out a large portion
of the educated workforce from the US economy. The loss of these students would have
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catastrophic effects on places like campus-towns in particular, like our very own University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
On this campus specifically, graduate students play a huge role in the overall experience
for undergraduate students, instructors, and the surrounding population outside of the institution
as well. Personally, I attribute most of my ability to stay afloat in my very demanding STEM
(Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) courses to the four graduate students that
assist me in understanding the courses. I have 4 classes currently that all have grad students that
work as Lab Assistant and Teaching Assistants. They are undoubtedly “the student’s best hope
of understanding concepts that the book and the instructor fail to communicate” (O’Leary).
Without Teaching assistants helping me through the rigorous course material, it would be
extremely difficult to understand anything, since in an institution like UIUC, it’s no easy task
trying to get one-to-one time with a lecturer. Also, when working with someone a little closer to
your age is less daunting then talking to the individual that is directly in charge of your grade in
the class. A TA knows exactly what you’re going through, as they were just in your shoes not too
long ago, making them much easier to confide in. Graduate students are also an invaluable
resource for lecturers as well, as they provide much needed support in larger classes, by helping
reduce the workload and also provide positive feedback on how to improve the course. Even
outside of class, graduate students put their time into complex projects like research and
academic studies. Not only do they perform this task for themselves, but they also provide a
bridge between undergraduate students and these projects. The presence of graduate students in
research labs allows undergraduate students to work under them, serving as mentors in order to
give undergraduates needed experience that will help them later in their careers.
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Graduate students also have a lasting effect on the area around our campus. People with
higher education stimulate the economy in the towns they reside in by settling down and starting
businesses in the region. They can also remain on campus and get a full-time job with the
university, or even participate in independent research, forming places like the Research Park in
Champaign. By bringing jobs into the local economy, they are a very valuable resource. For the
Urbana-Champaign area, they prove to be a more than worthwhile investment for campus and
the surrounding town. Graduate students may require an initial investment by the University,
with the tuition waiver and a salary, but they in turn bring revenue to the institution by increasing
the quality of education for all parties involved in the school, and also by encouraging other
students to stay on campus to complete their own graduate degrees. It is apparent that they are a
very necessary population in the higher education system, and the outlook without them seems
bleak. With less graduate degree seeking students due to drop outs, we would essentially stall
innovation. As discussed earlier, the income being made by grad students currently is barely
enough as it is, and with the new tax plan, graduate students are predicted to drop out at an
increased rate. Since graduate students are the ones who work in labs for innovation, without
them labs will be short-staffed and innovation will halt on campus. Innovation brings jobs, and
it’s also possible that the lack of new ideas will have an adverse effect on the overall economy in
the Champaign area.
The University of Illinois has a long history of innovation and the discovery of new ideas.
Two prime examples of this are Carl Woese and John Bardeen. These two individuals discovered
new concepts that revolutionized their respective fields. Carl Woese, a famous Molecular
Biologist, is credited with categorizing the general domains of life. In simple terms, he used
DNA to discover the relationship between archaea and eukaryotic organism. Originally it was
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thought that archaea, the oldest types of organisms on earth were closely related to prokaryotes,
or bacteria. However, he discovered that they were not as closely related as they were once
thought to be. His discovery opened several doors in the field of Biology, since we were able to
finally understand a once enigmatic organism much better. John Bardeen was able to not only
revolutionize his field, but he also changed the world as a whole. His invention, the transistor
was responsible for the eventual formation of the computer, because before it, there was no way
to control electrical current with such precision.
Although the stories of these two individuals seem unrelated to the tax plan, it is
important to remember that graduate students are the ones that are ultimately responsible for
executing to brunt of all the work that brings about innovation like the computer and
categorizing life. If the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had lost a large portion of
their graduate student body during that time, the world may not have computers today. We also
wouldn’t have such a thorough understanding of cellular life, putting us back in biological and
medical science. This would also only be the case if the tax plan were isolated to UIUC, but
unfortunately it would affect every institution in the US. The loss of graduate students would
mean that the entire nation would fall behind in innovation on a global scale. Not only would less
graduate students be available to work on pressing issues, but undergraduate students would also
feel discouraged in achieving their graduate school ambitions, since they would no longer be
able to sustain themselves financially while trying to pursue it. With less new people entering
these fields, less ideas would be introduced and tested as well. Groups that are going to benefit
from the tax plan, in the face of all these issues, insist that the tax plan is only restoring fairness
to the working population.
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Opponents to the current pay of graduate students argue that they are getting preferential
treatment by not getting taxed for their full income, and they are getting over-payed since they
are technically still receiving an education. Blue collar workers for example, get taxed for their
full income as well, even though they are technically starting in an apprenticeship type of
position. The belief of those who chose not to pursue a graduate degree is that since graduate
students are in fact getting payed in the form of a tuition waiver, it is only fair that they get taxed
on that amount as well, since these blue-collared workers aren’t getting any untaxed income
either (Berman). Although this is a valid point, it is also important to remember that the blue
collared workers are in control of their full income, and should be taxed on it as such. Graduate
students however, can only work with the $29,000 that they get paid. If they were to be taxed for
the tuition waiver on top of their regular income tax, the financial burden would be too much to
bare for many. This can be further understood by looking at how much students are currently
making and being taxed versus how much money they would be taxed for under the GOP.
Roughly 3.0 million undergraduate students that move into graduate programs are
currently looking at making about $29,000 a year, and are being taxed on this income. Florida
State University graduate students currently make around $23,000, and are taxed about $1,424
per year as an in-state student. Under the tax plan, they will be taxed an average of $4,052 a year
(Siegal). The tax plan would effectively take away nearly $3,000 from their already low
paycheck. Although this may seem like a small amount, it is almost 1/7th of a Florida student’s
annual income. Unfortunately, this is the lower spectrum of loss in the case of graduate students.
For those who are going to school out-of-state, or going to a private university, the loss of
income is closer to 1/5th of their total income. It seems almost cruel that such a large increase in
tax would be enforced upon a group that already has so little to give. Large corporations and the
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wealthy are being given tax cuts, which seems almost backwards, as they actually do have
wealth that can be taxed in the first place. Forbes, a reputable business and economy magazine
goes as far as to say, “If the goal of the new tax plan is to shift the tax burden from wealthy,
older Americans onto young, already-indebted students pursuing their higher education dreams,
it’s poised to be a smashing success” (Siegal). It’s almost as if the tax plan has been enacted to
keep the rich and poor in their respective castes.
The GOP Tax Plan has already made its way through Congress, and it is very likely that
it will eventually become a law. Although graduate students may be inevitably taxed, there is
still a way to preserve the United States long history of innovation and allow to continue to move
forward as a country. This is through granting graduate students with a higher income in order to
allow them to sustain themselves.
Taxing graduate students for their tuition waivers satisfies the criteria for the tax plan,
and helps stifle the argument that graduate students are getting special treatment in their taxing.
Giving them a higher income helps promote individuals to pursue and continue to pursue a
graduate degree or PhD. Increasing graduate income while still taxing them seems to be the only
solution that satisfies both parties without favoring one specifically. While being taxed isn’t the
best situation for grad students, being paid more income would help alleviate the burden of tax,
since the taxation itself may be an inevitability. Graduate students are also more than deserving
of a raise, since they are working hard to further educate the society. Giving them higher pay
would also motivate even more students to consider pursuing a graduate degree, further
strengthening the student body and increasing the overall quality of US institutions.
With more pay, we will also discourage current graduate students from moving to other
countries to pursue their graduate education, keeping the local economy growing steadily. Also,
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a higher pay may even bring in international students seeking a better education, as international
students suffer even more from these taxes due to their higher tuition cost. Increasing their
income would encourage them to remain in the US, and contribute to innovation here as well. It
may seem initially as a large investment for an institution to pay every graduate student more,
but the payoff is immense, as educated individuals are a great resource for any community both
academically and economically.
Although it isn’t the best option for graduate students, receiving a higher pay would be
the only recourse that could save higher education in the US. This won’t solve the issues that the
tax plan will bring upon all of the groups that are negatively affected by this, but it at least
addresses one of the more pressing issues that would harm the nation if left unattended. Ideally,
it would be best to combat the issue before it passes at all, which many graduate students and
supporters of higher education are doing. I believe strongly that it is our responsibility as
members of the higher education community to support the graduate students in their fight for
just pay, as it will harm our experience as well, even if we are not seeking a graduate or PhD
later in life. It is important to remember the TAs that help you through your classes, and the lab
assistants that work towards bettering the lives of people everywhere, because they are the ones
being hurt by an unjust tax plan. Fighting against tax plans that are against taxing those without
means helps close the large gap between the poor and the rich in this country, and promotes a
more educated society.
